Moolooloo Station (also known as Moolooloo and Moorillah Stations) 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 ...

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 ...

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 approximately north west of

Blinman Blinman is a locality incorporating two towns located in the Australian state of South Australia within the Flinders Ranges about north of the state capital of Adelaide. It is very small but has the claim of being the highest surveyed town in S ...

and south of Leigh Creek. The property was established in 1851 and originally known as Oratunga Station. John McKinley and his brother stocked the property with sheep and built a stone hut known as Howannigan, the ruins of which can still be seen today. John and James Chambers acquired the station in 1853. Five leases totalling were taken up between 1853 and 1858.

Copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

was found by James Chambers and

William Finke William Finke (1814 or 1815 – 17 January 1864) was a prospector and pastoralist in South Australia, remembered as a sponsor of John McDouall Stuart's exploratory journeys, along with the Chambers brothers. History Finke, who may have been born ...

in 1857 along the southern boundary. The pair worked the deposit, establishing the Oratunga mine. The store at Moolooloo burnt down in 1861, with the Chambers losing a large supply in the resulting explosion. In 1863 the

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 ...

and adjoining sheep yards were destroyed by a fire that was started accidentally. In 1870

Philip Levi Philip Levi (1 February 1822 – 13 May 1898) was an early settler and pastoralist of South Australia. Born at Brixton Hill, Surrey, England, Levi arrived in South Australia at the age of sixteen, aboard the '' Eden'' in 1838 with his parent ...

's company disposed of many of its properties including Moolooloo and

Wirrealpa Wirrealpa Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a sheep station and cattle station in South Australia. The property is situated approximately south east of Leigh Creek and north east of Quorn, on the eastern side of the Flinders R ...

Oulnina Oulnina Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a sheep station in South Australia. It is situated approximately south east of Mannahill and east of Yunta. The property was established some time prior to 1861. In 1862, Henry Loren ...

and Wadnaminga, Mount Margaret and Booleroo Station. Together these properties were stocked with over 70,000 sheep and 3,000 cattle. Moolooloo and Moorillah Stations are currently both run by the same family and together occupy an area of . The shearers' quarters are used now for tourist accommodation. The land occupying the extent of the Moolooloo pastoral lease was gazetted as two localities by the Government of South Australia on 26 April 2013 under the names Moolooloo and Moorillah.

References

{{Stations of South Australia Pastoral leases in South Australia Stations (Australian agriculture) Far North (South Australia)

See also

References