Hallett is a small town in

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 on the

Barrier Highway Barrier Highway is a highway in South Australia and New South Wales, and is designated part of route A32. The name of the highway is derived from the Barrier Ranges, an area of moderately high ground in the far west of New South Wales, through w ...

and former

Peterborough railway line The Peterborough railway line was a railway line on the South Australian Railways network. It extended from a junction at Roseworthy on the Morgan railway line through Hamley Bridge, Riverton, initially to Tarlee, then extended in stages to P ...

north of Burra and south-east of Jamestown, Hallett lies close to

Goyder's Line Goyder's Line is a line that runs roughly east–west across South Australia and, in effect, joins places with an average annual rainfall of . North of Goyder's Line, annual rainfall is usually too low to support cropping, with the land being sui ...

, plotted in the nineteenth century by

George Goyder George Woodroffe Goyder (24 June 1826 – 2 November 1898) was a surveyor in the Colony of South Australia during the latter half of the nineteenth century. He rose rapidly in the civil service, becoming Assistant Surveyor-General by 1856 ...

, separating the land suitable for cropping from the land suitable for grazing. At the 2011 census, Hallett shared a population of 235 with adjoining localities. The town was named for pioneering pastoralist and politician John Hallett, and laid out on his property "Willogoleechee". The first were offered for sale on 7 July 1870. Hallett Cove was also named for him. Once a railhead for the local farming community, the town today features a General Store with fuel supply and the Wildongoleechie Hotel, which dates from 1868. A second hotel, the Unicorn Hotel, existed in the 1870s, but is long gone. The Good Shepherd Catholic Church was formerly the Hallett Freemasons Lodge; once the second-smallest lodge in the state, it closed in 1978 and was acquired by the Catholic Church in 1980. The building remains but no longer operates as a Church, having fallen into disrepair. The Uniting Church (formerly the Methodist Church) opened in 1928. A third church, St Catherine of Sienna Anglican Church, opened in 1957 and closed in 2003. The historic Cappeedee Homestead and Woolshed 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'' ...

. Hallett is the closest town to Mount Bryan East, birthplace of Sir

Hubert Wilkins Sir George Hubert Wilkins MC & Bar (31 October 188830 November 1958), commonly referred to as Captain Wilkins, was an Australian polar explorer, ornithologist, pilot, soldier, geographer and photographer. He was awarded the Military Cross afte ...

polar explorer, ornithologist, pilot, soldier, geographer and photographer (1888–1958), perhaps the last modern explorer. Sir Hubert Wilkins birthplace and childhood home, Netfield, now restored as a historic site, is easily accessible from the renowned Mount Dare Driving Circuit between Hallett and Terowie.

Notable people

Beaumont Smith Frank Beaumont "Beau" Smith (15 August 1885 – 2 January 1950), was an Australian film director, producer and exhibitor, best known for making low-budget comedies. Smith made his first film in 1917, '' Our Friends, the Hayseeds''. He went on t ...

(1885–1950), film director and producer *

References

Towns in South Australia Mid North (South Australia) {{SouthAustralia-geo-stub