Robertstown 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 ...

. The town is located north of

Eudunda Eudunda is a rural town in South Australia, roughly 103 kilometres northeast of Adelaide, established in 1870 after settlers began moving into the area in the 1860s. As of the 2006 census, Eudunda had a population of 640. Eudunda is in the Regio ...

, in the

Regional Council of Goyder The Regional Council of Goyder is a local government area located in the Mid North region of South Australia. The council area is reliant on agriculture as a mainstay of its economy, with manufacturing and tourism also becoming prominent. The co ...

. At the , Robertstown and the surrounding area had a population of 223. Robertstown is named for the John Roberts, the first postmaster in the area, who laid out the town in 1871. It was previously known as Emu Flats and Roberts Town. Robertstown is the hub of a small

broadacre Broadacre in Australia is land suitable for farms practicing large-scale crop operations. The key crop segments in this category are as follows: * oilseeds - canola, sunflowers * winter and summer cereals - wheat, barley, oats, triticale, sorgh ...

farming community. The town is host to the Robertstown Hotel, Lehmann's General Store and Tschirn's Mechanical which does vehicle repairs and sells fuel.

Transport

Robertstown is on the Worlds End Highway between

and Burra. It was also previously the terminus of the

Robertstown railway line The Robertstown railway line was a railway line on the South Australian Railways South Australian Railways (SAR) was the statutory corporation through which the Government of South Australia built and operated railways in South Australia ...

from Eudunda and

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 ...

, which operated between 1914 and 1990.

Mining

The Robertstown area has been host to several

asbestos Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...

mines. The S.A. Asbestos & Mining Co. Ltd operated a mine from 1894 that was northeast of the town. The Blue Hole Mine was operated as an open-cut quarry from 1940 to 1951, northwest of the town.

Motorsport

The Robertstown area is the venue for many motoring events. The Velocette Motor Cycle club has conducted a two-day road reliability motor cycle trial there since 1973, in which dozens of solo and sidecar motorcycles with their riders and passengers set out from the Robertstown Oval to about 10 rural properties, where competitions covering about per lap are run. An event in the annual South Australian Troy series motor cycle enduro is also conducted in August in the ranges near Robertstown.

References

{{authority control Towns in South Australia