The City of Port Lincoln is a

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

located on the southern tip of the

Eyre Peninsula The Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded by the Spencer Gulf on the east, the Great Australian Bight on the west, and the Gawler Ranges to the north. Originally called Eyre’s Peninsula, it was named aft ...

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 consists of one suburb -

Port Lincoln Port Lincoln is a town on the Lower Eyre Peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia. It is situated on the shore of Boston Bay, which opens eastward into Spencer Gulf. It is the largest city in the West Coast region, and is located a ...

. It is surrounded on land by the

District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula The District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula is a local government area located on Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. The district covers the southern tip of the peninsula, except for the small area taken up by the City of Port Lincoln. The mai ...

, which also has offices in Port Lincoln.

History

The area was discovered and mapped by

Matthew Flinders Captain Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was a British navigator and cartographer who led the first inshore circumnavigation of mainland Australia, then called New Holland. He is also credited as being the first person to u ...

in 1802, who named the body of water ''Port Lincoln'' after his home county of

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The first white settlers in the area arrived in 1839, travelling from

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...

on the ''Abeona''. The settlement at Port Lincoln grew from 150 in the immediate aftermath of their arrival to 270 by 1840, and on 29 June 1839, Port Lincoln was designated as an official port for trade. The town experienced strong development, and by 1936 was regarded as "the principal seaport town of the

, as well as being a "favourite holiday resort" with sea connections from Port Adelaide. The district first gained local government in 1880, when the

District Council of Lincoln The District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula is a local government area located on Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. The district covers the southern tip of the peninsula, except for the small area taken up by the City of Port Lincoln. The m ...

was created for the Port Lincoln area, holding its first meeting in the Pier Hotel in July. It was variously referred to in period newspapers as either the "Port Lincoln" or "Lincoln" council, but the landmark ''

District Councils Act 1887 The District Councils Act 1887 was an act of the Parliament of South Australia. It received assent on 9 December 1887, and its provisions came into effect when proclaimed by Governor William C. F. Robinson on 5 January 1888. The legislation intr ...

'', which undertook a major reorganisation of South Australian local government, referred to it as the District Council of Lincoln. The City of Port Lincoln municipality was created when the town of Port Lincoln incorporated and seceded from the district council in 1921, becoming the Corporate Town of Port Lincoln. It gained its present name when it was granted city status on 21 January 1971. The former District Council of Lincoln was renamed the

in 1988, and continues to serve the rural areas surrounding Port Lincoln.

Localities

The boundaries of the City of Port Lincoln are almost contiguous with the town of

itself; a small portion of western Port Lincoln falls into the

, while a very small section of adjacent

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

falls within the Port Lincoln municipality.

Elected Members

The City of Port Lincoln has a directly-elected mayor.

Mayors of Port Lincoln

* Joseph Scoresby Shepherd (1921-1923) * Arthur Leech (1923-1928) * David Otto Whait (1928-1933) * Richard Francis Poole (1933-1939) * Albert Kent Mullner (1939-1940) * Richard Francis Poole (1940-1944) * Herbert Heath Bascombe (1944-1949) * Joseph Patrick O'Leary (1949-1950) * William Arthur Trigg (1950-1954) * Percival Lincoln Puckridge (1954-1967) * Harold John Freeman (1967-1973) * Ilmar Tohver (1973-1976) * Harold Franklin Hunt (1976-1978) * Geoffrey Rex Davey (1978-1981) * Thomas George Secker (1981-1993) * Ronald Vincent Carey (1993-1995) * Peter Davis (1995-2010) * Bruce Green (2010–2018) * Brad Flaherty (2018-present)

References

External links

Official websiteLGA Site
{{Eyre Peninsula

Eyre Peninsula 1880 establishments in Australia