Robe is a town and

fishing port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manche ...

located in the

Limestone Coast The Limestone Coast is a name used since the early 21st century for a Regions of South Australia#South Australian Government regions, South Australian government region located in the south east of South Australia which immediately adjoins ...

region in the south-eastern part of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. The town's distinctive combination of historical buildings, ocean, fishing fleets, lakes and dense bush attracts many tourists. Robe lies on the southern shore of Guichen Bay, just off the

Princes Highway Princes Highway is a major road in Australia, extending from Sydney via Melbourne to Adelaide through the states of New South Wales, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and South Australia. It has a length of (along Highway 1) or via the former ...

. At the , Robe had a population of 1156. Robe is the main town in the District Council of Robe

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

. It is in the state electorate of MacKillop and 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 d ...

History

Early history

Robe is situated on the ancestral lands of the Buandig and

Ngarrindjeri The Ngarrindjeri people are the traditional Aboriginal Australian people of the lower Murray River, eastern Fleurieu Peninsula, and the Coorong of the southern-central area of the state of South Australia. The term ''Ngarrindjeri'' means "belo ...

peoples. Europeans founded the town of Robe on 19 March 1846, ten years after the Province of South Australia was established, as a seaport, administrative centre, and

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

. Robe was named after the fourth

Governor of South Australia The governor of South Australia is the representative in South Australia of the monarch, currently King Charles III. The governor performs the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the governor-general of Aust ...

, Major Frederick Robe, who chose the site as a port in 1845. The town was proclaimed as a port in 1847. It became South Australia's second-busiest international port, after

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide city centre, Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is t ...

, in the 1850s. Robe's trade was drawn from a large hinterland that extended into western Victoria, and many roadside inns were built to cater for the bullock teamsters bringing down the wool, including the Bush Inn, still standing on the outskirts of Robe. Exports included horses, sheep skins, and wool. The

Customs House A custom house or customs house was traditionally a building housing the offices for a jurisdictional government whose officials oversaw the functions associated with importing and exporting goods into and out of a country, such as collecting ...

has been listed on the

South Australian Heritage Register The South Australian Heritage Register, also known as the SA Heritage Register, is a statutory register of historic places in South Australia. It extends legal protection regarding demolition and development under the ''Heritage Places Act 1993'' ...

since 1980.

"Robe Walk"

During the Victorian

gold rushes A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Gr ...

after the discovery of gold in Victoria in 1851, the government of the

colony of Victoria The Colony of Victoria was a historical administrative division in Australia that existed from 1851 until 1901, when it federated with other colonies to form the Commonwealth of Australia. Situated in the southeastern corner of the Australian ...

introduced a landing

tax A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to regulate and reduce negative externalities. Tax co ...

of £10 per person to deter Chinese immigrants more than the cost of their voyage. To bypass the tax, more than 16,000 Chinese people landed at Robe to walk overland for to the goldfields, mainly at

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) () is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australia and the third-largest city in Victoria. Within mo ...

and

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is an Australian city in north-central Victoria. The city is located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2022, Bendigo has a popula ...

. The walk became known as the "Robe Walk".

Shipwrecks

There have been a number of shipwrecks along the coast, with many occurring in the mid-19th century. They include: * ''Phaeton'' – 2 February 1857 * ''Sultana'' – 27 April 1857 * ''Alma'' 15 December 1861 * ''Livingstone'' – 16 December 1861 * '' SS Admella'' – 6 August 1859 * '' Koning Willem II'' – 30 June 1857, on Long Beach around east of Robe A stone

obelisk An obelisk (; , diminutive of (') ' spit, nail, pointed pillar') is a tall, slender, tapered monument with four sides and a pyramidal or pyramidion top. Originally constructed by Ancient Egyptians and called ''tekhenu'', the Greeks used th ...

was built on Cape Dombey in 1852 to help ships navigate safely into the bay, and an automatic

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

was built on higher ground in 1973.

Decline in economic importance

Robe's importance decreased with the building of

railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to roa ...

in the 19th century to

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

and Beachport, about respectively to its north and south.

Heritage listings

Robe has many heritage-listed places, including: * Burr Street: Robe Cemetery * Cape Dombey: Cape Dombey Obelisk * 1A Hagen Street: Robe House * 2 Hagen Street: The Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Chapel and Schoolroom * 7 Karatta Road: Karatta House * Main Road: Lakeside * Main Road: Lakeside Stables and Coach House * Main South Eastern Road: Richmond Park Homestead * Millicent Road: Bush Inn * 2 Mundy Terrace: Robe Post Office and Telegraph Station * Nora Creina Road: The Hermitage * Nora Creina Road: CSIRO Field Research Station * Nora Creina Road: Dingley Dell (dwelling) * Nora Creina Road: Bellevue Homestead * Obelisk Road: Robe Gaol Ruins * Royal Circus: Royal Circus and Slipwall * 1 Royal Circus: Robe Customs House * Smillie Street: Robe Institute * Smillie Street: Criterion Hotel * 8 Smillie Street: Robe Courthouse, Police Station, Old Cells and Stables * 10 Smillie Street: Ormerod Cottages * 24 Smillie Street: Bank of South Australia Building * 26 Smillie Street: Campbell's Shop * 32 Smillie Street: Davison's Shop and Residence * 38 Smillie Street: Graymasts * 4-8 Sturt Street: Moorakyne House * 15 Sturt Street: Granny Banks' Cottage * 1 Victoria Street: Caledonian Inn * 5 Victoria Street: Wilson's Saddlery * 18 Victoria Street: Attic House

Economy and facilities

Robe continues as a service centre for the surrounding rural areas and home to a fishing fleet; especially important in the local economy is the rocklobster fishery.

Attractions and tourism

Robe has always been a popular holiday destination for South Australians, but since Victorian tourists have discovered it, it has become the most popular coastal town in the state. There are several beaches along the Robe and Guichen Bay coast. Long Beach, east of Robe and stretching up the eastern side of the bay, is long. During summer, the sand is very firm, and cars are allowed on the beach. It is Robe's main surfing beach, and beach fishing is also a popular recreation along this stretch. There is a surf school during summer months and a surf shop. The largest surf is found past the third ramp. Other beaches include the Outlet, known for its birdlife; Fox's Beach, with a rocky reef off it; and Town Beach, which has a pontoon for swimming to.

Demographics and governance

At the , the town of Robe had a population of 1252. Robe is the main town in the District Council of Robe

. It is in the state electorate of MacKillop and the federal

. It lies within the

region of South Australia. The County of Robe is one of the 49 cadastral counties of South Australia, proclaimed by Governor Frederick Robe in 1846.

Climate

Robe has a

warm-summer mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

( Köppen: ''Csb''), with mild, dry summers and cool, wet winters. Average maxima range from in January and February to in July, and average minima from in January to in July. The mean annual rainfall is spread on 165 days. The town has 56 clear days and 163 cloudy days per annum. Extreme temperatures have ranged from on 14 February 1981 to on 19 July 1982. Climate data is also available for Robe Airport, located SE of the town. The inland weather station has a greater diurnal and seasonal range, and experiences slightly less rainfall.

Notable people

Notable people associated with Robe include: * Jordan Dawson, AFL Footballer who plays for the

Adelaide Crows The Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed the Crows, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Adelaide, South Australia that was founded in 1990. The Crows have fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) since 199 ...

and has captained the team since 2023

References

External links

District Council of Robe
{{authority control Coastal towns in South Australia Limestone Coast Fishing communities in Australia