Kingscote

History

The South Australian Company established its colony at Kingscote at Reeves Point on 27 July 1836, as South Australia's first official European settlement, the first settlers having arrived on the Duke of York, and named for Henry Robert Kingscote, one of the founding directors of the company. It was early suggested that Kingscote could serve as the capital of South Australia, but the island's resources were insufficient to support such a large community; the South Australian Company moved almost six months later to Adelaide after sending surveyors to find a better site. The history of the area is displayed in the museum in Hope Cottage, to the north of the town. Hope Cottage was one of the three earliest houses built in Kingscote, circa 1850, with the adjoining cottages of Faith and Charity. (Faith has been subsequently demolished.) Joyce Debenham Seager arrived here as the only doctor on the island in 1925 and she established the first temporary hospital travelling by horse to visit patients. The Old Mulberry Tree at Reeves Point was planted in 1836 and still bears fruit. Reeves Point has been placed on the Australian Heritage Places List. The current town of Kingscote is now immediately to the south of the original Kingscote settlement at Reeves Point in the area originally known as Queenscliffe (the origin of the name of the Queenscliffe Hotel in Dauncey Street). Kingscote contains the following places which are listed on the South Australian Heritage Register: *Hope Cottage Museum *The Bluff Cottage *Barrett's Store *Reeves Point Settlement Site, the site of the first official settlement in the Colony of South Australia *Old Government Quarry

Most-observed species

• Superb Fairywren

  Malurus cyaneus (Ellis, 1782) · Aves
  1,265
• Little Penguin

  Eudyptula minor (J.R.Forster, 1781) · Aves
  1,087
• Silver Gull

  Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae (Stephens, 1826) · Aves
  968
• Red Wattlebird

  Anthochaera carunculata (Shaw, 1790) · Aves
  962
• Black Swan

  Cygnus atratus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  856
• Pied Oystercatcher

  Haematopus longirostris Vieillot, 1817 · Aves
  855
• Australian Magpie

  Gymnorhina tibicen (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  854
• Silver-eye

  Zosterops lateralis (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  847

Most recent

• M 2.8 — 2007-07-08
  26 km SW of Normanville, Australia
• M 3.5 — 2006-03-11
  86 km W of Kingscote, Australia
• M 2.9 — 2004-11-25
  18 km W of Kingscote, Australia
• M 2.7 — 2003-09-22
  11 km SSE of Normanville, Australia