Arcoona or Arcoona Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a

sheep station A sheep station is a large property ( station, the equivalent of a ranch) in Australia or New Zealand, whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and/or meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or sout ...

. It is located about north east of Woomera in the outback 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 ...

, The station occupies an area of . The station was founded prior to 1880 and was owned by Mr A. M. Wooldridge in 1880. Wooldridge owned the Parakylia lease that he had established and then sold the western portion and kept the balance himself and renamed as Arcoona. The neighbouring properties are Wirraminna to the south and Andamooka Station to the north.

History

The pastoralist James Gemmell who had been managing

Mundi Mundi Mundi Mundi Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a sheep station in New South Wales. The property is situated approximately west of Broken Hill and north west of Menindee. Mundi Mundi is one of the four original stations in the B ...

Station left to take over Arcoona in 1893. The horse ''Discussion'' by ''Light Artillery'' from ''Small Talk'' was bought in 1906 and sent to Arcoona to stud. Richardson paid 190 guineas for the sire. It was sold in 1909 by Messrs. Richardson and Gemmell to John Pick of Terowie, who would be elected to the House of Assembly while at Arcoona. At the time the station was stocked with 12,000

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated ...

, 600

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...

, 250

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

s and 7 camels. Although Arcoona has an

arid A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic. Most ...

climate it is occasionally inundated with rain, in 1919 Mr J. H. Mules reported of rain falling and the lake ''filling fast'', and again on New Year's Day in 1921 of rain fell. Pick sold Arcoona in 1920 and bought Coondambo Station in May 1920 for £37,200. The station was restocked in 1930 with 2,000 ewes being delivered from the Matakanna district. Following a great season in 1938 the percentage of lambing was excellent with 6,637 lambs produced from 6,977 ewes. The 1942 season was fairly dry but some patchy rains provided enough feed for the sheep to graze on but not enough to fill any surface tanks. At this time the station was owned by Arcoona Pastoral Co. of which Mr. R. J. McEwin was a partner. During the

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

of 1944–1945 stock numbers were very low. The station was sold once again in 1947, for an undisclosed price believed to be in excess of £75,000 on account of J. E. Pick to Kidman Estates of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

. At the time the area of the property was and had an estimated flock of 25,000 sheep. The station had also received heavier than normal rainfall over the last year and all the creeks were flowing and lakes were full to capacity. In 2003 the station was selected by the then federal Science Minister, Peter McGauran, as a low level

nuclear waste Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. Radioactive waste is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, rare-earth mining, and nuclear weapons ...

dump. The site was chosen as it had better security, a less environmentally sensitive access route and more saline water which has no pastoral use. About of radioactive waste generated each year in Australia would be stored in an underground repository. The plan was abandoned in 2004, following legal action from the then owners, the Polke family, as well as opposition from the state government and traditional owners. In 2008 the property was acquired by the Handbury family who also owned

Collinsville Station Collinsville Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a sheep station in South Australia. The property is situated approximately east of Hallett and north of Adelaide. It is composed of flat and hilly terrain with areas of saltbush and ...

. The property occupied an area of and was managed by Andrew Willis. The property was running a flock of about 20,000 sheep as well as 100

shorthorn The Shorthorn breed of cattle originated in the North East of England in the late eighteenth century. The breed was developed as dual-purpose, suitable for both dairy and beef production; however, certain blood lines within the breed always emp ...

cattle. The land occupying the extent of the Arcoona pastoral lease was gazetted by the Government of South Australia as a locality in April 2013 under the name 'Arcoona'.

References

{{Stations of South Australia Stations (Australian agriculture) Pastoral leases in South Australia Far North (South Australia)

History

See also

References