Avenue Range (formerly Downer) is a locality in the Australian state of
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
located in the state's south-east within the
Limestone Coast
The Limestone Coast is a name used since the early twenty-first century for a South Australian government region located in the south east of South Australia which immediately adjoins the continental coastline and the Victorian border. The ...
region about south east of the
Adelaide city centre
Adelaide city centre (Kaurna: Tarndanya) is the inner city locality of Greater Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. It is known by locals simply as "the City" or "Town" to distinguish it from Greater Adelaide and from the City of Ade ...
.
[
The ]traditional owners
Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have rights ...
of this region are the Bungandidj (Boandik) people.
In 1843 a pastoralist named John ‘Jacky’ White acquired a run of 134 square miles spanning Reedy Creek, Keilira, Crower and Lucindale. He was the first European settler in Avenue Range.
Avenue Range was a stop on the Kingston-Naracoorte railway line
The Mount Gambier railway line was a railway line on the South Australian Railways network. Opened in stages from 1881, it was built to narrow gauge and joined Mount Gambier railway station, which was at that time the eastern terminus of a line ...
. The first passenger train to travel on the line from Kingston to Naracoorte was on 1 September 1876 until the last on 28 November 1987 spanning 111 years.
The first Avenue school, named Downer School, was built south of the railway line and operated from 1890 to 1901. A new school, built on Council of Education land opened in 1901 and operated until 1955.
The locality includes the Cairnbank Homestead and Shearing Shed, which is listed on the South Australian Heritage Register
The South Australian Heritage Register, also known as the SA Heritage Register, is a statutory register of historic places in South Australia. It extends legal protection regarding demolition and development under the ''Heritage Places Act 1993'' ...
.
Land within the locality is used exclusively for agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
.Division of Barker
The Division of Barker is an Australian Electoral Division in the south-east of South Australia. The division was established on 2 October 1903, when South Australia's original single multi-member division was split into seven single-member div ...
, the state electoral district of MacKillop
MacKillop is a single-member electoral district for the South Australian House of Assembly. It was named in 1991 after Sister Mary MacKillop who served the local area, and later became the first Australian to be canonised as a Roman Catholic sa ...
, and the local government areas of the Kingston District Council
The Kingston District Council (formerly District Council of Lacepede) is a local government area in the Limestone Coast, South Australia established in 1873. Kingston SE is the largest town of the district and also the seat of council.
The dist ...
and the Naracoorte Lucindale Council
The Naracoorte Lucindale Council is a Local Government Areas of South Australia, local government area in the Australian state of South Australia located in the Limestone Coast region in the south-east of the state adjacent to the Victoria, Austr ...
.
See also
* Hundred of Townsend
References
External links
*
{{authority control
Towns in South Australia
Limestone Coast