Charleston is a small town in the Adelaide Hills 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 ...

. It is situated on the Onkaparinga Valley Road between Woodside and

Mount Torrens Mount Torrens is a town in the eastern Adelaide Hills region of South Australia, 46 kilometres east-north-east of the state capital, Adelaide and 8 km east of Lobethal. It is located in the Adelaide Hills Council and the Mid Murray Counci ...

, on the main route from the Adelaide Hills to the Barossa Valley, and 3km south-east of

Lobethal Lobethal is a town in the Adelaide Hills area of South Australia. It is located in the Adelaide Hills Council local government area, and is nestled on the banks of a creek between the hills and up the sides of the valley. It was once the centr ...

. Charleston is very close to the source of the River Onkaparinga. The town was laid out in 1857 by Charles Dunn (1796–1881), a brother of the prominent miller John Dunn, in a subdivision of section 5197,

Hundred of Onkaparinga The Hundred of Onkaparinga is a cadastral hundred of the County of Adelaide, South Australia, in the Adelaide Hills. It was proclaimed by Governor Frederick Robe in 1846 and named for the Onkaparinga River valley, which flows from north east to ...

, and may have been originally named "Charlestown", but the current spelling has always been more common in newspaper reports Most of the local businesses are on the Onkaparinga Valley Road, while the largest number of houses are on Newman Road. Charleston is served by a community postal agency called the Bookpost which is also a bookshop, internet cafe and General Store. Next to The Bookpost is the ''Charleston Hotel'' which received national attention as one of the main props in a car advertisement, based on

Slim Dusty Slim Dusty, AO MBE (born David Gordon Kirkpatrick; 13 June 1927 – 19 September 2003) was an Australian country music singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer. He was an Australian cultural icon and one of the country's most awarded stars, ...

's famous song "Answer to a Pub With No Beer". Charleston was served by the

Mount Pleasant railway line The Mount Pleasant railway line is an abandoned South Australian line. It was opened between Balhannah and Mount Pleasant in September 1918 and ran until March 1963 as a freight and passenger service.

from 1918 to 1953. It is also on the

Onkaparinga Valley Road Onkaparinga Valley Road is a South Australian secondary road, connecting the towns of Birdwood, Woodside, Balhannah and Verdun within the Adelaide Hills. It is designated part of route B34. Major intersections Onkaparinga Valley Road is enti ...

(route B34) and the

Amy Gillett Bikeway The Amy Gillett Bikeway or Amy Gillett Rail Trail or Amy Gillett Pathway is a shared path in the Adelaide Hills on part of the alignment of the former Mount Pleasant railway line. It is a sealed path suitable for recreational cycling, walking an ...

on the former railway route. Charleston is within the limits of the

Adelaide Metro Adelaide Metro is the public transport system of Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. It is an intermodal system offering an integrated network of bus, tram, and train service throughout the metropolitan area. The network has an ann ...

bus network, and is serviced by the 835 route during school terms.

References

Towns in South Australia {{SouthAustralia-geo-stub