Renmark is a town in

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 ...

's rural

Riverland The Riverland is a region of South Australia. It covers an area of along the Murray River, River Murray from where it flows into South Australia from New South Wales and Victoria (Australia), Victoria downstream to Blanchetown, South Australia ...

area, and is located northeast of

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 ...

, on the banks of the

River Murray The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest ...

. The

Sturt Highway Sturt Highway is an Australian national highway in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. It is an important road link for the transport of passengers and freight between Sydney and Adelaide and the regions situated adjacent to the r ...

between Adelaide and

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

runs through the town; Renmark is the last major town encountered in South Australia when driving this route. It is a few kilometres west of the SA-Victoria and SA-NSW borders. It is above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

. At the , Renmark had a population of 4,634.

History

It has been suggested that the name Renmark refers to a local Aboriginal word meaning "red mud" (the original inhabitants of the area were the

Erawirung The Erawirung (Yirawirung, Jirawirung) people, also known as Yirau, Juju and other names, were an Aboriginal Australian people whose traditional territory was located in what is today the Riverland of South Australia. They consisted of sub-groups ...

people). However, the mud at Renmark is not red. Alternatively, it could be derived from the name Bookmark, later Calperum, the station founded by the

Chambers brothers The Chambers Brothers are an American psychedelic soul band, best known for their eleven-minute 1967 psychedelic soul hit "Time Has Come Today". The group was part of the wave of new music that integrated American blues and gospel traditions wit ...

, from which was excised for the town and irrigation project. Another possibility is the name of an early settler in the district, William Renny. The first unambiguous use of the name (as "Renmark Flat") in newspapers was in October 1888. Captain Charles Sturt was the first European to pass through the area in January 1830, as he navigated the length of the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest r ...

from the

Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills, that runs rough ...

, eventually reaching Lake Alexandrina. A settlement began to grow in 1887, when the Renmark Irrigation Settlement was established by

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...

and

William Chaffey William Benjamin Chaffey, CMG (21 October 1856 – 4 June 1926) was a Canadian engineer and irrigation planner who with his older brother George Chaffey developed what became the cities of Etiwanda, California, Ontario, California, and Upla ...

, who created a system of open drains using water from the Murray River, (called Renmark Irrigation Trust) to allow

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of larg ...

s to be planted in the area. By pumping water onto the hot red sand they transformed it into a fruit growing area similar to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. The Chaffey brothers' business collapsed in 1893, and the Renmark Irrigation Trust was created to manage the irrigation scheme. Renmark was proclaimed a town in 1904 and a municipality in 1935. Bush poet and soldier

Breaker Morant Harry "The Breaker" Harbord Morant (born Edwin Henry Murrant, 9 December 1864 – 27 February 1902), more popularly known as Breaker Morant, was an Anglo-Australian drover, horseman, bush poet, military officer, and war criminal who was co ...

worked locally, at

J. F. Cudmore Daniel Michael Paul Cudmore (1811 – 3 November 1891) was a pastoralist in the early days of South Australia and the founder of a family highly influential in that and other States, especially Queensland. History Daniel was born in Tory Hall i ...

's Paringa Station in the 1890s, before serving in the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

The Renmark Hotel was the first community-owned hotel in the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

and became the town's major landmark. Renmark was connected to Adelaide by rail on 31 January 1927, when the railway line across the bridge to Paringa was opened. It was later extended west as far as

Barmera Barmera is a town in the Riverland region of South Australia. It is on the Sturt Highway A20, 220 kilometres north-east of Adelaide, the capital of the state of South Australia. It is primarily an agricultural and viticultural town and is l ...

, and known as the

Barmera railway line The Barmera railway line was the second railway built to develop the Murray Mallee region of South Australia, in 1913. It followed the success of the Pinnaroo railway line in 1906. Both lines branched east from Tailem Bend to the north of the ma ...

, but then closed in 1983 then the last scheduled train to cross the bridge was on 31 December 1990.

Heritage listings

Renmark has a number of

heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and man-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In many ...

sites, including: * Murray Avenue:

Renmark Hotel Renmark may refer to. *Renmark, South Australia, a town and locality in South Australia * Renmark Airport, an airport in South Australia *''Renmark Pioneer'', a former newspaper in South Australia which now trades as the ''Murray Pioneer'' * Town o ...

* 149 Murray Avenue:

Renmark Irrigation Trust Office Renmark may refer to. *Renmark, South Australia, a town and locality in South Australia *Renmark Airport, an airport in South Australia *'' Renmark Pioneer'', a former newspaper in South Australia which now trades as the ''Murray Pioneer'' * Town o ...

* 24 Ral Ral Avenue: Renmark Post Office * Renmark Avenue:

Renmark Distillery Bridge Renmark may refer to. *Renmark, South Australia, a town and locality in South Australia *Renmark Airport, an airport in South Australia *''Renmark Pioneer'', a former newspaper in South Australia which now trades as the ''Murray Pioneer'' *Town of ...

* Renmark Avenue: Olivewood * Sturt Highway:

Paringa Bridge The Paringa Bridge carries the Sturt Highway across the Murray River in Paringa, South Australia. Until 1982, it also carried the Barmera railway line. The bridge consists of a vertical-lift span long which can rise in one and a half minut ...

Governance

Renmark is located within the federal

division of Barker The Division of Barker is an Australian Electoral Division in the south-east of South Australia. The division was established on 2 October 1903, when South Australia's original single multi-member division was split into seven single-member div ...

, the state electoral district of Chaffey and the local government area of the

Renmark Paringa Council The Renmark Paringa Council is a local government area located adjacent to the Victorian border, in the Riverland, South Australia. The area is known for its various fruit production, and is heavily dependent on the River Murray as a water sour ...

Tourism, industry and facilities

Renmark is a multicultural centre for the Riverland area. The river itself offers excellent spots for

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

waterskiing Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on two skis or one ski. The sport requires suffici ...

and

boating Boating is the leisurely activity of travelling by boat, or the recreational use of a boat whether Motorboat, powerboats, Sailing, sailboats, or man-powered vessels (such as rowing and paddle boats), focused on the travel itself, as well as sp ...

. The area is known for the cultivation of

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years ago, ...

citrus fruits ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. The genus ''Citrus'' is nativ ...

tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

es,

vegetable Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, ...

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

and

wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. As ...

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

trees stretch for hectares as do vineyards and

stone fruit In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part ( exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or ''pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel' ...

orchards. Other industries include

almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree native to Iran and surrounding countries, including the Levant. The almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree. Within the genus ...

growing and

pistachio The pistachio (, ''Pistacia vera''), a member of the cashew family, is a small tree originating from Central Asia and the Middle East. The tree produces seeds that are widely consumed as food. ''Pistacia vera'' is often confused with other sp ...

nut cultivation. Renmark is also home to the region's only restored

paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses wer ...

, wine companies and the rose industry. Renmark hosts the Renmark Rose Festival every October. There is a shopping centre known as Renmark Square, camping grounds, and a dirt oval speedway known as the Riverland Speedway.

Murray River National Park

The Murray River National Park includes two locations near Renmark: CC-BY icon

Text may have been copied from this source, which is available under
Attribution 3.0 Australia (CC BY 3.0 AU)
licence. * Paringa Paddock (), including Goat Island, between Renmark and Paringa; and * Bulyong, or Bulyong Island, on the west side of the river upstream from Renmark, accessible only by boat. Paringa Paddock (which includes Goat Island) contains areas of riverine woodlands,

wetlands A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

and river flats. The

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

is lined by huge

river red gum ''Eucalyptus camaldulensis'', commonly known as the river red gum, is a tree that is endemic to Australia. It has smooth white or cream-coloured bark, lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven or nine, white flowers an ...

(''Eucalyptus camaldulensis'') and river box (''Eucalyptus largiflorens''). The wetland complex provides habitat for koalas, birds and reptiles, and the park provides recreation for people of all ages and abilities. There are walking and biking trails developed by the

and the local community. Bulyong is home to many wildlife species, such as

western grey kangaroo The western grey kangaroo (''Macropus fuliginosus''), also referred to as a western grey giant kangaroo, black-faced kangaroo, mallee kangaroo, sooty kangaroo and (when referring to the Kangaroo Island subspecies) Kangaroo Island grey kangaroo, is ...

emu The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the genus '' Dromaius''. The emu ...

pelican Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before s ...

kingfisher Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly colored birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species found in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...

s and parrots.

Media

The ''

Murray Pioneer The ''Murray Pioneer'' is a weekly newspaper published since 1892 in Renmark, South Australia. It is now owned by the Taylor Group of Newspapers. History The forerunner of the newspaper was the ''Renmark Pioneer'' (9 April 1892 – 4 July 191 ...

'', a newspaper founded in 1892 as the ''Renmark Pioneer'', is printed in Renmark. Channels from the following television networks are available in Renmark: *

ABC Television ABC Television most commonly refers to: *ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or *ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia ABC Television or ABC ...

(ABC) *

SBS Television The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from the Australian Government. SBS operates six TV channels ( SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS Wor ...

(SBS) *

WIN Television WIN Television is an Australian television network owned by WIN Corporation that is based in Wollongong, New South Wales. WIN commenced transmissions on 18 March 1962 as a single television station covering the Wollongong region. The WIN Netwo ...

(7, 9 & 10) as RTS-5A & LRS-34 relays the programming from

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

(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 Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

(Ten SA),

Sky News Regional Sky News Australia is an Australian news channel owned by News Corp Australia. Originally launched on 19 February 1996, it broadcasts rolling news coverage throughout the day, while its prime time lineup is dedicated to opinion-based programs f ...

and Fox Sports News, with local commercials inserted The

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

(ABC) broadcasts a local

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

, ABC Riverland (1062 AM), along with national stations

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 ...

(1305 AM);

ABC News Radio ABC News Radio is the news radio service of ABC Audio, a division of ABC News in the United States. Formerly known as ABC Radio News, ABC News Radio feeds, through Skyview Networks, five minute newscasts on the hour and news briefs at half-pas ...

(93.9 FM);

ABC Classic 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. I ...

(105.1 FM) and

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

(101.9 FM). In addition, there are commercial radio stations, including 5RM (801 AM); Wild Country Radio (1557 AM); Magic FM (93.1 FM); TAB Racing Network (95.5 FM) and Riverland Life (100.7 FM).

Sporting teams

* Renmark Olympic (

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

) * Renmark Rovers (

Australian rules football 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 ...

) * Renmark Royals (

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

)

Notable people

* Thomas Angove, a winemaker from Renmark, invented the process for packaging cask (box) wine, patented by his company on 20 April 1965. *

Gordon Bilney Gordon Neil Bilney (21 June 193928 October 2012) was an Australian politician. He was an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives for the seat of Kingston from 1983 to 1996. Bilney was born in Renmark, South Au ...

- politician * Rob Bredl - documentary film maker *

Rick Burr Lieutenant General Richard Maxwell "Rick" Burr, (born 2 June 1964) is a retired senior officer of the Australian Army, who served as Chief of Army from 2 July 2018 to 1 July 2022. He was previously Commander 1st Division from 2011 to 2012, D ...

former Chief of Army * Syd Heylen - performer *

Rex Hobcroft Rex Hobcroft AM (12 May 192523 September 2013) was an Australian pianist, conductor, composer, teacher, competition juror and music administrator. He was the first Australian pianist to play the complete cycle of Beethoven's piano sonatas in pu ...

- musician *

Ruby Hunter Ruby Charlotte Margaret Hunter (31 October 195517 February 2010), also known as Aunty Ruby, was an Aboriginal Australian singer, songwriter and guitarist, and the life and musical partner of Archie Roach . Early life Ruby Hunter was born on 31 ...

, Aboriginal singer-songwriter and partner of

Archie Roach Archibald William Roach (8 January 1956 – 30 July 2022) was an Australian singer, songwriter and Aboriginal Australian, Aboriginal activist. Often referred to as "Uncle Archie", Roach was a Gunditjmara and Western Bundjalung people, Bundjalu ...

, was born in 1955 on Goat Island. * John Percival Jennings - horticulturist *

Cecil Madigan Cecil Thomas Madigan (15 October 1889 – 14 January 1947) was an Australian explorer and geologist, academic, aerial surveyor, meteorologist, author and officer of the British army. He was born in Renmark, South Australia. His family had associ ...

- explorer and geologist *

Mark Mickan Mark James Mickan (born 30 January 1961) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Brisbane Bears and Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Mickan began his senior career with South Austr ...

- AFL footballer *

Patricia Mickan Patricia "Pat" Mickan (born 12 March 1957) is an Australian former basketball player. Biography Mickan played 150 games for the national team between 1979 and 1989, competing at two Olympic Games; 1984 and 1988.Anne Ruston Anne Sowerby Ruston (born 10 June 1963) is an Australian politician who served as Minister for Families and Social Services in the Morrison Government from 2019 to 2022. She has been a Senator for South Australia since 2012. Before entering p ...

- politician *

Nicole Seekamp Nicole Seekamp (born 26 April 1992) is an Australian professional basketball player. College Seekamp played college basketball at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, South Dakota for the Coyotes. After sitting out the 2011–12 season ...

- basketballer *

Dean Semler Dean Semler ACS ASC (born 26 May 1943) is an Australian cinematographer and film director. Over his career, he has worked as a cinematographer, camera operator, director, second unit director, and assistant director. He is a three-time recip ...

- cinematographer *

Ross Story Clarence Ross Story (16 January 1920 – 9 May 1991), was a farmer and politician in the State of South Australia. History Story was born to Frank W. Story (January 1890 – ) and Mrs. Story (née Ross) of Renmark, at St. Peters, South Austral ...

- politician * Jack Wade - AFL footballer

Climate

Renmark experiences a

cool arid climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

, bordering on a cool semi-arid climate with hot, dry summers (though which are subject to

cold fronts A cold front is the leading edge of a cooler mass of air at ground level that replaces a warmer mass of air and lies within a pronounced surface trough of low pressure. It often forms behind an extratropical cyclone (to the west in the Northern ...

on account of the western longitude); warm, dry springs and autumns; and cool to mild, dry but sometimes cloudy winters. Renmark is surrounded by mallee scrub, and is situated in a

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...

location, north of

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 ...

. Due to its geographical location, it summers are a few degrees hotter than

's temperatures, although it has many more touches of frost in winter, and it also lacks Adelaide's sizeable winter precipitation. The average rainfall of Renmark is , falling evenly throughout the year, as

thunderstorms A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are somet ...

in summer; cold fronts and Northwest cloudbands in winter, and a combination of the three in spring and autumn. Record temperatures have ranged from on 20 December 2019 to in June 1998.

References

External links

Town map
(2011), showing Renmark, Paringa and Paringa Paddock, with Goat Island

(2004) {{authority control Towns in South Australia Populated places on the Murray River Riverland