Bright is a rural locality in the

Mid North The Mid North is a region of South Australia, north of the Adelaide Plains and south of the Far North and the outback. It is generally accepted to extend from Spencer Gulf east to the Barrier Highway, including the coastal plain, the southern ...

region 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 ...

, situated in the

Regional Council of Goyder The Regional Council of Goyder is a local government area located in the Mid North region of South Australia. The council area is reliant on agriculture as a mainstay of its economy, with manufacturing and tourism also becoming prominent. The co ...

. It was established in August 2000, when boundaries were formalised for the "long established local name". It incorporates most of the cadastral

Hundred of Bright County of Burra is a cadastral unit located in the Australian state of South Australia which covers land located in the state’s east associated with the town of Burra. It was proclaimed in 1851 by Governor Young and named after the town of ...

, which was proclaimed on 17 June 1875 and named for politician

Henry Edward Bright Hon. Henry Edward Bright (30 June 1819 – 18 February 1904) was a member of the South Australian Colonial Parliament. A son, Henry Edward Bright jr. (1843–1917), was a mayor of Gawler, South Australia. Early life Bright was born in London on ...

. The area was originally the territory of the

Ngadjuri The Ngadjuri people are a group of Aboriginal Australian people whose traditional lands lie in the mid north of South Australia with a territory extending from Gawler in the south to Orroroo in the Flinders Ranges in the north. Name Their ethnon ...

people. It was settled "well before 1900". The area faced challenges in its use for farming, with mallee cutting needed for preparing land for cropping into the 1930s, and erosion becoming a problem in the 1930s and 1940s. The eastern parts of the hundred received reticulated water in 1959, electricity in 1963, and telephone service in 1964. Bright Post Office opened on 1 September 1891, was downgraded to a receiving office on 19 May 1917, and closed altogether on 31 October 1917. Bright School opened in 1899 in a rented house, moved to a permanent building soon after, and moved again to a new building, described as "a galvanised iron-clad building, lined inside with ceiling board ndinsulated with sea weed" in 1911. It was closed due to low attendance on 31 December 1955. The Upper Bright Zion Lutheran Church opened in 1887 on what is now the Worlds End Highway, and closed in 1960. A Lutheran school operated at the church from 1887 until its closure for lack of students in 1913. The church has been demolished, but the associated cemetery still survives.

References

{{authority control Towns in South Australia Mid North (South Australia)