Port Wakefield (formerly Port Henry) is a town at the mouth of the River Wakefield, at the head of the

Gulf St Vincent Gulf St Vincent, sometimes referred to as St Vincent Gulf, St Vincent's Gulf or Gulf of St Vincent, is the eastern of two large inlets of water on the southern coast of Australia, in the state of South Australia, the other being the larger Sp ...

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 was the first government town to be established north of the state capital,

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

. Port Wakefield is situated from the

Adelaide city centre Adelaide city centre (Kaurna: Tarndanya) is the inner city locality of Greater Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. It is known by locals simply as "the City" or "Town" to distinguish it from Greater Adelaide and from the City of Ade ...

on the

Port Wakefield Highway Port Wakefield Highway (and its southern section as Port Wakefield Road) is an important South Australian highway, connecting Adelaide to the Yorke Peninsula, Port Augusta, northern and western South Australia, the Northern Territory and Weste ...

section of the A1 National Highway. Port Wakefield is a major stop on the Adelaide –

Yorke Peninsula The Yorke Peninsula is a peninsula located northwest and west of Adelaide in South Australia, between Spencer Gulf on the west and Gulf St Vincent on the east. The peninsula is separated from Kangaroo Island to the south by Investigator Strai ...

and Adelaide –

Port Augusta Port Augusta is a small city in South Australia. Formerly a port, seaport, it is now a road traffic and Junction (rail), railway junction city mainly located on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf immediately south of the gulf's head and about ...

road routes. Travellers between Adelaide and any of the

Flinders Ranges The Flinders Ranges are the largest mountain range in South Australia, which starts about north of Adelaide. The ranges stretch for over from Port Pirie to Lake Callabonna. The Adnyamathanha people are the Aboriginal group who have inhabi ...

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 ...

or the

Nullarbor Plain The Nullarbor Plain ( ; Latin: feminine of , 'no', and , 'tree') is part of the area of flat, almost treeless, arid or semi-arid country of southern Australia, located on the Great Australian Bight coast with the Great Victoria Desert to its ...

will likely travel through Port Wakefield. Due to its strategic location, Port Wakefield is known for its roadhouses and trucking stops. Just north of the township there is a major forked intersection where the Yorke Peninsula traffic diverges west onto the

Copper Coast Highway Copper Coast Highway is a highway in South Australia which branches off from the Augusta and Port Wakefield Highways 2 km north of Port Wakefield, and heads northwest across the top of Yorke Peninsula to Kadina, ending at the Spencer Gul ...

from the main

Augusta Highway Augusta Highway is the part of Australia's ring route ( Highway 1) located in South Australia between Port Wakefield and Port Augusta. Route Augusta Highway starts at the intersection with Eyre and Stuart Highways in Port Augusta West, then ...

. The intersection is notorious for road accidents and traffic delays, especially at the end of holidays and long weekends.

History

The town was originally named ''Port Henry'' by William Hill. The name of the town was, around 1849, changed to Port Wakefield, after the

Wakefield River The Wakefield River is an ephemeral river that flows to an estuary in the Australian state of South Australia. Course and features The river rises above , flowing southward, passing the towns of Watervale and Auburn, where it is fed by severa ...

. In 1848, the Patent Copper Company agreed to build and operate a smelter at Burra. Seeking to reduce cartage costs, a track was surveyed to its port established at the mouth of the River Wakefield. By securing leases of the appropriate Crown Land, the company obtained a monopoly of the port. The Government declared the track the Great Western Road. The wharf was constructed along the bank of the river and cargo was transferred between the wharf and ships at anchor in the Gulf on

lighter A lighter is a portable device which creates a flame, and can be used to ignite a variety of items, such as cigarettes, gas lighter, fireworks, candles or campfires. It consists of a metal or plastic container filled with a flammable liquid or c ...

s. With the opening of the railway from

Gawler Gawler is the oldest country town on the Australian mainland in the state of South Australia. It was named after the second Governor (British Vice-Regal representative) of the colony of South Australia, George Gawler. It is about north of the ...

in 1857, the Copper Company's traffic came to a sudden end, leaving only pastoral produce to flow to the port. Mixed farming was established on lands opening up by the Government along the River in the mid-1860s and this called for improvement in transport to the Port. William Hanson, Manager for Railways, selected a route for a horse-drawn tramway terminating at Hoyles Plains, later renamed Hoyleton. The enabling Act provided for a tramway of 28 miles 41 chains (45.9 km) in length to a gauge of , the first line in South Australia built to that gauge. Subsequently, the Government agreed that the line should be operated by a private body. The successful tenderer was one Paul Badcock who opened the line to traffic on 4 January 1870. Horses were worked in three relays between the stations on the route. The choice of gauge was influenced by the argument that costs varied with the cube of the gauge. As this railway had its own port, it was not expected to link up with any broad gauge railways which avoided of course any

break of gauge With railways, a break of gauge occurs where a line of one track gauge (the distance between the rails, or between the wheels of trains designed to run on those rails) meets a line of a different gauge. Trains and rolling stock generally cannot ...

problems. Following a surrender of the lease, the line was taken over by the Government at the end of 1870. On 1 March 1876 the line was extended from Hoyleton to Blyth. Steam locomotives were subsequently obtained and, by August, 1876, the entire line was being worked by steam power. The line was extended at the other end from Port Wakefield to Kadina on 9 October 1878. In 1927, these railways, and the remainder of the Western system that grew from them, were converted to the broad gauge. The Wesleyan Methodist chapel was built in 1868 by a local stonemason and carpenter. It continues in use as a

Uniting Church The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was founded on 22 June 1977, when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost all the churches of the Congregational Union ...

. The 1955 Australian Grand Prix was held at the

Port Wakefield Circuit Port Wakefield Circuit was a motor racing circuit located approximately east of the town of Port Wakefield in South Australia. It was the first purpose built motor racing facility built in Australia after World War II, and only the second in A ...

east of the township. The circuit opened in 1953 when public road racing was banned, and closed in 1961 when some of its facilities were moved to the longer Mallala Race Circuit.

2020 highway upgrade

A proposal by the

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Au ...

before the 2018 state election was that if it was elected it would build a single lane overpass at the Augusta Highway end of the Copper Coast Highway to reduce traffic conflicts. The party won the election and upgraded the planning to completely grade-separate the intersection and duplicate the highway through Port Wakefield. The contract for detailed design and construction of duplication of

Port Wakefield Road Port Wakefield Highway (and its southern section as Port Wakefield Road) is an important South Australian highway, connecting Adelaide to the Yorke Peninsula, Port Augusta, northern and western South Australia, the Northern Territory and Wester ...

through Port Wakefield and grade-separate the intersection with the Copper Coast Highway was let in March 2020 to the "Port Wakefield to Port Augusta Alliance", a consortium of

CPB Contractors CIMIC Group Limited (formerly Leighton Holdings) is an Australian construction contractor. It is active in the telecommunications, engineering and infrastructure, building and property, mining and resources, and environmental services industries ...

Aurecon Aurecon is an engineering, management, design, planning, project management, consulting and advisory company based in Australia, with operations in the Middle East, New Zealand and South East Asia. History Formed through the merger of three ...

and

GHD Group GHD Group Pty Ltd (formerly known as Gutteridge Haskins & Davey) is a global employee-owned multinational technical professional services firm providing advisory, architecture and design, buildings, digital, energy and resources, environmental ...

. This consortium is also responsible for the duplication of

Joy Baluch AM Bridge The Joy Baluch AM Bridge is a bridge across Spencer Gulf between Port Augusta and Port Augusta West in South Australia. It carries Highway 1 and is a key road link on both east–west and north–south road routes in Australia. The western en ...

. Both projects are expected to be completed in 2022.

Media

In 1876, a short lived newspaper was printed in the town, called the ''Port Wakefield Times and Balaclava, Hoyleton, Blyth and Lochiel Advertiser'' (July – August 1876) and published by Edward Richardson. A later newspaper was the ''Wakefield Sun'' (15 July 1910 – 31 May 1912). Another publication, the ''Port Wakefield Monitor'' (7 January 1915 – 26 June 1941), was also published locally.

Local government

On 28 November 1878 the

District Council of Port Wakefield The District Council of Port Wakefield was a local government area seated at Port Wakefield in South Australia from 1878 to 1983. History The District Council of Port Wakefield was officially proclaimed along with its new neighbouring councils ...

was established on the same day as the District Council of Clinton and

District Council of Kulpara 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 county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

, bringing local government to the area.

References

External links

Yorke Peninsula website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Port Wakefield, South Australia Coastal towns in South Australia Gulf St Vincent