Adelaide River

History

The Kungarrakan and Awarai Aboriginal peoples are acknowledged as the traditional owners of the land surrounding the present day town of Adelaide River. There was little acknowledgement of their connection to the land in the early history of the area, evidenced by the predominantly European place names. The following year, Mr. Edward Hopewell was awarded this mail contract and built the Q.C.E. Hotel on the river bank and a restaurant, the "Jolly Waggoner" was opened by George Doherty, increasing the importance of the area as an overnight stop for travellers. The first police station in the town was constructed in 1879. Prior to the construction of the railway to Pine Creek, the Adelaide River crossing was the overnight stopping point for the Haimes Royal Mail Coach which linked Southport with the goldfields. In 1886 a contract was signed between the Government of South Australia and construction firm C&E Millar to build the railway between Port Darwin (then known as Palmerston) and the goldfields at Pine Creek. By April 1888 the railway had reached Adelaide River. Construction of the long steel girder across the river itself used five spans supported on four sets of piers. The bridge was all but complete by the onset of the wet season later that year. The first train to cross reached the southern bank on 3 December 1888, followed five days later by the first scheduled service, hauled by the locomotive "Silverton". Pastoral and agricultural activity were stimulated with the issuing of leases for Crown Land. In 1911 brothers Frank and Fred Hardy, local buffalo hunters, established Mount Bundy Station on an 834sq mi pastoral lease near the town of Adelaide River. Using local Aboriginal stockmen to hunt and process the animals, they began exporting buffalo hide to…