Mount Eba Station is a

pastoral lease A pastoral lease, sometimes called a pastoral run, is an arrangement used in both Australia and New Zealand where government-owned Crown land is leased out to graziers for the purpose of livestock grazing on rangelands. Australia Pastoral lease ...

in outback

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 ...

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 approximately north west of

Roxby Downs Roxby Downs may refer to. * Roxby Downs, South Australia, a town and a locality * Roxby Council, formerly Municipal Council of Roxby Downs, a local government area See also *Roxby Downs Station Roxby Downs Station was a pastoral lease in centra ...

and south east of

Coober Pedy Coober Pedy () is a town in northern South Australia, north of Adelaide on the Stuart Highway. The town is sometimes referred to as the "opal capital of the world" because of the quantity of precious opals that are mined there. Coober Pedy is ...

. It shares boundaries with Millers Creek Station to the north, The Twins Station to the west,

Bon Bon Reserve Bon Bon Reserve is a private protected area located in the Australian state of South Australia, west of the town of Roxby Downs in the Woomera Prohibited Area. It is owned and managed by Bush Heritage Australia (BHA). It forms an important li ...

to the south, and

Parakylia Parakylia Station is a pastoral lease that once operated as a sheep station but now operates as a cattle station in outback South Australia. Description It is located approximately west of Roxby Downs and south of William Creek. The prope ...

Station to the east. The property is named for the solitary hill that rises from the surrounding plains. The plains are mostly vegetated with mulga and

saltbush Saltbush is a vernacular plant name that most often refers to ''Atriplex'', a genus of about 250 plants distributed worldwide from subtropical to subarctic regions. ''Atriplex'' species are native to Australia, North and South America, and Eurasia. ...

, with salt pans interspersed throughout. Currently the property occupies an area of .

History

Mount Eba was established by Price Maurice in 1874. At this time it encompassed as area of but was extremely isolated and had uncertain rainfall. Despite the high costs Maurice sank 83

wells Wells most commonly refers to: * Wells, Somerset, a cathedral city in Somerset, England * Well, an excavation or structure created in the ground * Wells (name) Wells may also refer to: Places Canada *Wells, British Columbia England * Wells ...

of which 36 produced good water. The property was stocked intensively from 1878 to 1880, with numerous improvements, including the construction of buildings and a new

woolshed Shearing sheds (or wool sheds) are large sheds located on sheep stations to accommodate large scale sheep shearing activities. In countries where large numbers of sheep are kept for wool, sometimes many thousands in a flock, shearing sheds ar ...

, being completed. In 1879 there were between 80 and 100 men employed at Mount Eba. By 1884 the property was stocked with 18,500 sheep, 750 cattle and 270 horses. By 1901 the lease had been abandoned, like many others in the area, but left under a caretaker. The property encompassed at that time. By 1908 the property occupied an area of approximately and was stocked with 5,000 sheep. By 1914 the lessee was James Gemmel, who had rigged up a motor to his windmills to have sufficient water for his sheep. After World War I, but before 1923, the Jacob brothers acquired Mount Eba. At this time the property was mostly running cattle, but the Jacobs intended to make the move back to sheep. The station by this time incorporated the Boolgunnia and The Twins pastoral leases. In 1939 Grant Matheson was the manager and part-owner. Matheson joined the

RAAF "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

during World War II and served as a squadron leader. He still owned the property in 1945. The property suffered a terrible drought from 1940 to 1944, with thousands of sheep dying. By 1947 H.R. Crombie was managing Mount Eba, although its size had been reduced from over to . The property was once a small township when it was owned by the Crombie family in the 1950s. There were dozens of staff for the

Woomera Rocket Range The RAAF Woomera Range Complex (WRC) is a major Australian military and civil aerospace facility and operation located in South Australia, approximately north-west of Adelaide. The WRC is operated by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), a di ...

, as well as about thirty station-hands, housekeeping staff, and a bookkeeper. The property was acquired in 1979 by the Nitschke family who also owned neighbouring Millers Creek Station. Part of the Millers Creek lease was added in 1994. By 2007 the Prominent Hill mining lease commenced and parts of the station had to be destocked. By 2014 Mount Eba was on the market. At that time it was stocked with 11,000

merino The Merino is a breed or group of breeds of domestic sheep, characterised by very fine soft wool. It was established in Spain near the end of the Middle Ages, and was for several centuries kept as a strict Spanish monopoly; exports of the bree ...

sheep and 300 cattle. Mount Eba was the last property that had been owned by the Nitschkes to be sold. The land occupying the extent of the Mount Eba Station pastoral lease was gazetted as a locality in April 2013 under the name 'Mount Eba'.

References

{{Reflist, 2 Stations (Australian agriculture) Pastoral leases in South Australia Far North (South Australia) 1874 establishments in Australia