Naracoorte is a town in the

Limestone Coast The Limestone Coast is a name used since the early twenty-first century for a South Australian government region located in the south east of South Australia which immediately adjoins the continental coastline and the Victorian border. The ...

region of South Australia, approximately 336 kilometres south-east of Adelaide and 100 kilometres north of Mount Gambier on the

Riddoch Highway Riddoch Highway is a rural highway in south-eastern South Australia, designated as route A66 between Keith and Mount Gambier, with the remainder between Mount Gambier and Port MacDonnell designated as route B66. It is named after John Riddoch, t ...

(A66).

History

Before the

colonisation of South Australia British colonisation of South Australia describes the planning and establishment of the colony of South Australia by the British government, covering the period from 1829, when the idea was raised by the then-imprisoned Edward Gibbon Wakefield ...

in 1836, the land now occupied by the town of Naracoorte was situated on the border of lands occuped by the

Bindjali people The Bodaruwitj, also rendered Bedaruwidj or Potaruwutj, and referred to in some early sources as the Tatiara, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of South Australia. David Horton believed they were the group his sources referred to a ...

to the east and Ngarrindjeri to the east. Naracoorte was formed from the merger of two towns, Kincraig, founded in 1845 by Scottish explorer William Macintosh, and Narracoorte, established as a government settlement in 1847. The name has gone through a number of spellings, and is believed to be derived from the

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

words for ''place of running water'' or ''large waterhole''. It grew during the 1850s as a service town for people going to and from the Victorian gold rush. The Post Office opened on 22 March 1853 and was known as Mosquito Plains until 1861. The

District Council of Naracoorte A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

was proclaimed in August 1870 to locally govern the lands of the Hundred of Naracoorte. In 1888 the size of the district was dramatically expanded to include surrounding areas not yet locally governed. As a consequence, in February 1924 the

Corporate Town of Naracoorte A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and re ...

was established to provide dedicated local governance to the township. In 1935 a cinema, the Austral Theatre, designed by

Chris A. Smith Christopher Arthur Smith (19 November 1892 – 2 March 1952), also known as Chris Smith and Chris A. Smith, was a South Australian architect. He was a prolific designer of picture theatres and public buildings in Adelaide and regional South Austr ...

, opened at 124-140 Smith Street. It was later known as the Rivoli Theatre. The

Kingston-Naracoorte railway line The Mount Gambier railway line was a railway line on the South Australian Railways network. Opened in stages from 1881, it was built to narrow gauge and joined Mount Gambier railway station, which was at that time the eastern terminus of a line ...

was closed on 28 November 1987 and dismantled on 15 September 1991, followed on 12 April 1995 by the

Mount Gambier to Wolseley line The Mount Gambier railway line was a railway line on the South Australian Railways network. Opened in stages from 1881, it was built to narrow gauge and joined Mount Gambier railway station, which was at that time the eastern terminus of a line ...

, still pending gauge standardisation. Since 1993 Naracoorte has been locally governed by the amalgamated

Naracoorte Lucindale Council The Naracoorte Lucindale Council is a Local Government Areas of South Australia, local government area in the Australian state of South Australia located in the Limestone Coast region in the south-east of the state adjacent to the Victoria, Austr ...

. It is in the state electoral district of MacKillop and the federal Division of Barker.

Industry

The town has historically relied largely on sheep, cattle and wheat farming. In recent decades, tourism has become a major industry due to the town's proximity to several wine regions and internationally recognised natural features. Both the World-Heritage-listed

Naracoorte Caves National Park Naracoorte Caves National Park is a national park near Naracoorte in the Limestone Coast tourism region in the south-east of South Australia (Australia). It was officially recognised in 1994 for its extensive fossil record when the site was ins ...

, the Ramsar-listed

Bool and Hacks Lagoons Bool may refer to: People *Al Bool (1897–1981), American baseball player *Henry Bool (1846–1922), American anarchist Places *Bool (Ludhiana East), a village in Punjab, India *Bool, Tagbilaran, a barangay (suburb) in the Philippines *Bool Isla ...

are south of the township. The wine regions of Coonawarra and

Wrattonbully Wrattonbully is a wine region in the Limestone Coast region of South Australia's South East, between the Padthaway and Coonawarra regions, between the Riddoch Highway and the Victorian border.Longbottom et al., 2011, page 20 The Wrattonbul ...

lie further south, while the Padthaway lies to the north, placing Naracoorte at the centre of the three. Vines near Naracoorte1

Other places of interest to tourists include: *The Visitor Information Centre & Sheep's Back Museum – MacDonnell Street *Lions Pioneer Park – MacDonnell Street *Tiny Train Park & Mini Golf – Park Terrace *Naracoorte Art Gallery – Ormerod Street *Mini Jumbuk Centre – 61 Smith Street *Swimming Lake – Moore Street *Jubilee Nature Park – Moore Street *Russet Ridge Winery – Cnr Caves Road and Riddoch Highway *Struan House – Riddoch Highway

Heritage listed sites

Naracoorte has a number of sites listed on the South Australian Heritage Register, including: LimbertsStore

* 6 Church Street: St Andrew's Presbyterian Church * DeGaris Place: Commercial Bank of South Australia Building (current council office) * 2 Laurie Crescent: St Paul's Anglican Church * MacDonnell Street:

Simpson's Flour Mill The Robert Simpson Company Limited, commonly known as Simpson's until 1972, then as Simpsons, and in Quebec sometimes as Simpson, was a Canadian department store chain that had its earliest roots in a store opened in 1858 by Robert Simpson. I ...

(current Sheep's Back Museum) * 23–25 McDonnell Street: Limbert's Store and Residence * 30 McLeay Street:

Dartmoor Homestead Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers . The granite which forms the uplands dates from the Carboniferous P ...

* 13 Ormerod Street:

Old Naracoorte District Council Chambers Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

* 81 Smith Street: National Bank Building

Services

Schools

There are three schools: Naracoorte High on Stewart Terrace, Naracoorte Primary on Park Terrace and Naracoorte South Primary. Independent schools include Naracoorte Christian School (also called Sunrise Christian School) on Caves Road (formerly on Rolland Street).

Other services

*Naracoorte Hospital *Police at 66 Smith Street *Banks – ANZ Bank, Bank SA, Commonwealth Bank, National Bank, People's Choice Credit Union *RAA – Kincraig Motors or Vans Automotive Service *Service stations – MoGas, Mobil, Caltex, Shell and On The Run *Supermarkets – Woolworths, Kincraig Plaza and Foodland *Transport – Bus station at 170 Smith Street *Food services – Naracoorte Pizza House, McDonald's, Sweet Espresso and W T Morris And Son's Bakery

Media

Newspapers

The town is home to ''

The Naracoorte Herald ''The Naracoorte Herald'' is a weekly newspaper first published in Naracoorte, South Australia on 14 December 1875. It was later sold to Rural Press, previously owned by Fairfax Media, but now an Australian media company trading as Australian Commu ...

'', a newspaper published in the town (under that name) since 1948. Prior to that, the newspaper had used the older spelling of the town, and was known as ''The Narracoorte Herald'', which had begun publication on 14 December 1875. It was formerly part of Fairfax Media, with the Fairfax regional office located in the town on Smith Street. Since mid 2019 it has been owned by Australian Community Media who purchased the Rural Press publications when Fairfax was bought by Nine. In 1912, a nearby publication, the ''Tatiara and Lawloit News'' (13 June 1908 – 15 June 1912), which also printed in Naracoorte, was absorbed into the ''Herald''. In May 2020 a new rival paper, "Naracoorte Community News" was launched by Michael Waite to fill the gap left by the suspension of ‘'The Naracoorte Herald'’ during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Television

* The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) – ABC, ABC TV Plus (formerly ABC Comedy)/ ABC Kids, ABC Me, ABC News (digital channels) * The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) – SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS World Movies, SBS Food, SBS WorldWatch, NITV (digital channels) * WIN Television (7, 9 & 10) as SES-8 – SES-8 relays the programming from Seven Network (Seven SA),

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

(Nine SA) & Network 10 (10 SA). *

Foxtel Foxtel is an Australian pay television company—operating in cable television, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April 2018, superseding an earlier company from 1995. The service was establi ...

– Subscription Television service

is also available via satellite. WIN Television's Channel 10 broadcasts Network Ten programming, Channel Seven broadcasts Seven Network programming & Channel Nine broadcasts Nine Network programming. The programming schedules for these channels is the same as Channel Nine, Channel Seven and Channel Ten in Adelaide, with local commercials inserted and some variations for coverage of

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

or National Rugby League matches, state and national news and current affairs programs, some lifestyle and light entertainment shows and infomercials.

Radio

;ABC *

ABC South East SA ABC South East SA is an ABC Local Radio station based in Mount Gambier, South Australia. The station broadcasts to the Limestone Coast region including the towns of Naracoorte, Millicent, Robe, Kingston, Bordertown and Keith. History The s ...

(1161 AM) *

ABC Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broadc ...

(102.5 FM) *

ABC Radio National Radio National, known on-air as RN, is an Australia-wide public service broadcasting radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. History 1937: Predecessors an ...

(103.3 FM) *

ABC Classic FM ABC Classic, formerly ABC-FM (also ABC Fine Music), and then ABC Classic FM, is an Australian classical music radio station available in Australia and internationally. Its website features classical music news, features and listening guides. ...

(104.1 FM) * ABC NewsRadio (105.7 FM) ;Commercial *

Radio TAB RadioTAB is a radio station primarily covering horse and greyhound racing in Australia and internationally, operated by Tabcorp, which operates the Totalisator Agency Boards based in Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia and Northern Territory ...

* SAFM (100.9 FM) (formerly Hit FM) ;Community * 5TCB FM (89.7 FM) * LIME FM (99.3 FM) (Formerly

Rhema FM Rhema FM is the name used for a number of Christian radio stations established with the help of, and assisted for many years by United Christian Broadcasters (UCB) in Australia. Each station is independent, being run and programmed locally with ...

)

Sport

The town has an

Australian Rules Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

football team competing in the Kowree-Naracoorte-Tatiara Football League. and also supplies players for a number of surrounding teams such as

Kybybolite Kybybolite is a locality in the Australian state of South Australia located in the state's south-east within the Limestone Coast region on the border with the state of Victoria about south east of the state capital of Adelaide and about north-e ...

, Padthaway and Border Districts. Naracoorte also has a soccer club competing in the

Limestone Coast Football Association Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms when t ...

. The Naracoorte Racing Club holds thoroughbred horse racing at its track located 4 kilometers from the center of the town.

Notable residents

Aaron Fiora Aaron Fiora (born 19 April 1981) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for and in the Australian Football League (AFL). Richmond career Originally from Naracoorte, South Australia, Fiora played his junior football with Port Ade ...

Alex Forster Alex Forster (born 24 July 1993) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for Norwood in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). He previously played for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). ...

* Alexander McLachlan * Alan Rawlinson *

Allan Rodda William Allan Rodda (8 September 1917 – 27 May 2010) was an Australian politician who represented the South Australian House of Assembly seat of Victoria for the Liberal and Country League and Liberal Party from 1965 to 1985. Rodda was born in ...

Alice Monfries Alice Monfries (born 13 February 1987) is a journalist and news presenter for the Nine Network in Adelaide. Career Monfries studied journalism at the University of South Australia and began her career at Messenger Newspapers, where she was re ...

Angus Schumacher Angus Schumacher (born 16 March 1999) is an Australian rules footballer playing for East Perth in the West Australian Football League (WAFL). He previously spent a season with in the Australian Football League (AFL). Originally from Naracoorte, ...

* Ben Johnson *

Cam Sutcliffe Cameron Sutcliffe (born 23 May 1992) is an Australian rules footballer who has played for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Fremantle Football Club from 2012 to 2018. He has al ...

Elizee De Garis Elisha Clement "Elizee" De Garis (17 September 1851 – 2 July 1948) was an Australian irrigationist. De Garis was born at Saint Martin in Guernsey in the Channel Islands to carpenter Elisha De Garis and Mary, ''née'' Roberts. In 1854 the De Gar ...

Emily Beaton Emily Beaton (born 9 April 1987) was an Australian netball player in the ANZ Championship, playing for the Adelaide Thunderbirds Adelaide Thunderbirds are an Australian netball team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Since 2017 they h ...

* George Ash *

George Byng Scott George Byng Scott (1824 – 17 February 1886) was an English-born Australian public servant, who served as Government Resident of the Northern Territory between 1873 and 1876. Career Born in Gillingham, Kent, England in 1824, Scott moved to Sout ...

Greg Rowe Greg Rowe (born 1964 in Adelaide, South Australia) is an Australian former child actor who starred in Australian films such as '' Storm Boy'' (1976) and ''Blue Fin'' (1978), both based on novels by Colin Thiele. His last film was ''Freedom'' ( ...

Hattie Shand Harriet 'Hattie' Ngaire Shand (born 11 January 2000) is a field hockey player from Australia, who plays as a defender. Personal life Hattie Shand was born in Naracoorte, South Australia and grew up in Langkoop, Victoria, at the age of two she wa ...

Harvey Jolly Harvey Jolly (born 1 August 1960) is an Australian cricketer. He played in eight first-class matches for South Australia in 1987/88. See also * List of South Australian representative cricketers This is a list of cricketers who have represe ...

* Indira Naidoo * Lachie Neale *

Lachlan Busiko Lachlan Busiko (born 13 January 1998) is a field hockey player from Australia. Personal life Lachlan Busiko was born and raised in Naracoorte, South Australia. He is a current scholarship holder at the South Australian Institute of Sport (SASI ...

Lucy Hood Lucille Anne Hood (January 27, 1958 – April 2, 2014), commonly known as Lucy Hood, was the founder of Fox Mobile Entertainment and the Executive Director of the Institute for Communication Technology Management (CTM) at the University of Sout ...

Jack Trengove Jack Trengove (born 2 September 1991) is a professional Australian rules footballer who most recently played for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A Australian rules football positions#Midfield, midfielde ...

* James Gardiner *

Jessica Trengove Jessica Stenson (née Trengove; born 15 August 1987) is an Australian athlete who won the gold medal in the marathon at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. As a long-distance runner, she competes in distances from 5000 metres up to the ma ...

John Baxter Mather John Baxter Mather (5 March 1853 – 7 November 1940) was a Scottish born journalist, newspaper proprietor, landscape painter and art critic in South Australia. History Mather was born in Edinburgh, Scotland to Thomas S. Mather (c. 1824 – 20 ...

Mountifort Conner Mountifort Longfield Conner (18 September 1824 – c. 12 November 1880), occasionally referred to as M. Longfield Conner, was an auctioneer, commission agent and politician in the British colony of South Australia. He was well known as a sporting ...

Sam Burston Sir Samuel Gerald Wood Burston OBE (24 April 191514 July 2015) was an Australian grazier who represented the rural sector as President of a forerunner of the National Farmers' Federation, and served as a member of the board of the Reserve Bank o ...

* Thomas Wilde Boothby *

Park Laurie James Park Dawson Laurie (1846 – 2 December 1928), generally known as "Park Laurie", was a pastoralist and politician in the colony of South Australia. History Laurie was born at Kangatong station, near Warrnambool, Victoria, the third son of ...

* Paul Rofe *

Percy Hutton William Frederick Percy Hutton (2 October 1876 – 1 October 1951), known as Percy Hutton, was an Australian cricketer who played a single first-class cricket, first-class match for South Australia cricket team, South Australia during the 1905� ...

Russell Dumas Sir Russell John Dumas Order of the British Empire, KBE, Order of St Michael and St George, CMG (17 January 1887 – 10 August 1975) was a public servant and engineer who led several large works projects in Western Australia. Early life Dumas w ...

William Shiels William Shiels (3 December 1848 – 17 December 1904) was an Australian colonial-era politician, serving as the 16th Premier of Victoria. Biography Shiels was born in Maghera, County Londonderry, a town in the centre of Ulster in the north of ...

Climate

Naracoorte experiences a warm-summer mediterranean climate ( Köppen: ''Csb'', Trewartha: ''Csbk''), with warm, relatively dry summers; mild, relatively dry springs and autumns; and cool winters with moderate precipitation.

References

External links

* *
FairfaxDigital Travel – NaracoorteNaracoorte Lucindale Council
Retrieved 5 March 2011. {{authority control Towns in South Australia Limestone Coast