Yongala

History

The Hundred of Yongala was proclaimed in the County of Dalhousie in 1871, one of the first of the twelve hundreds to be declared in that county, opening up the area for closer settlement and small-scale cultivation. The town was proclaimed on 23 May 1876. Within five years there was a population of 353 as developers anticipated the connection of a railway. Instead, the railway was built through the nearby town of Peterborough. The SS Yongala launched in 1903 and owned by the Adelaide Steamship Company was named after the town. It sank in a storm in 1911 off the coast of Townsville, Queensland and its wreck site is protected by the Commonwealth Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976.

Geography

Yongala has a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk). It is situated on a plateau of and winter snowfalls can occur. The town holds several records for the lowest minimum temperature in South Australia: including its all-time record low of on 20 July 1976, in addition to the record low temperatures in South Australia for the months of May, June, August and September.

Most-observed species

• Australian Magpie

  Gymnorhina tibicen (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  610
• Little Raven

  Corvus mellori Mathews, 1912 · Aves
  543
• Magpie-lark

  Grallina cyanoleuca (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  435
• Apostlebird

  Struthidea cinerea Gould, 1837 · Aves
  404
• Crested Pigeon

  Ocyphaps lophotes (Temminck, 1822) · Aves
  404
• Galah

  Eolophus roseicapilla (Vieillot, 1817) · Aves
  398
• Rock Pigeon

  Columba livia J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  387
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  383

Most recent

• M 4.3 — 2024-04-17
  8 km ENE of Jamestown, Australia
• M 4.9 — 2023-03-22
  60 km ENE of Peterborough, Australia
• M 4.4 — 2020-05-14
  15 km WSW of Burra, Australia
• M 3.3 — 2018-07-09
  9 km NNW of Jamestown, Australia
• M 4 — 2017-04-24
  29 km ENE of Quorn, Australia
• M 4.6 — 2014-04-29
  68 km ENE of Peterborough, Australia