Olary

History

A small settlement was established in the late 1880s to service the highway and the railway which pass through here. O'Lary Post Office opened on 12 October 1886, was renamed Oolarie around 1888 and Olary around 1896. After the modernisation of transport which travelled between Adelaide and Broken Hill, the village population declined. In 2010 the historic Bimbowrie Cobb and Co coach house near Olary became the scene of a traditional restoration operation, with almost 20 tradespeople attending a five-day training course in stonemasonry restoration techniques. Low-security prisoners from the Port Augusta Prison were among those who assisted with the project.

Geography

The Flinders-Olary NatureLink includes the mountainous Flinders and Olary Ranges together with the connecting plains country to cover six percent of the state of South Australia.

Most-observed species

• eastern wallaroo

  Macropus robustus Gould, 1840 · Mammalia
  238
• Emu

  Dromaius novaehollandiae (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  225
• domestic goat

  Capra hircus Linnaeus, 1758 · Mammalia
  187
• red kangaroo

  Macropus rufus (Desmarest, 1822) · Mammalia
  169
• European rabbit

  Oryctolagus cuniculus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Mammalia
  72
• cat

  Felis catus Linnaeus, 1758 · Mammalia
  44
• Australian Magpie

  Gymnorhina tibicen (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  21
• Chirruping Wedgebill

  Psophodes cristatus (Gould, 1838) · Aves
  19

Most recent

• M 4.6 — 2014-04-29
  68 km ENE of Peterborough, Australia
• M 4.5 — 2010-10-10
  105 km E of Peterborough, Australia
• M 4 — 2008-10-23
  94 km SW of Broken Hill, Australia
• M 3.3 — 2005-06-08
  110 km E of Peterborough, Australia