Lameroo is a town in the

Murray Mallee The Murray Mallee is the grain-growing and sheep-farming area of South Australia bounded to the north and west by the Murray River (in South Australia, "River Murray"), to the east by the Victorian border, and extending about 50 km sout ...

region of

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 is on the

Mallee Highway Mallee Highway (formerly Ouyen Highway in Victoria) is a highway in south-eastern South Australia and north-western Victoria, running mostly across the Mallee plains. It forms part of the shortest route between Adelaide and Sydney. Route Mallee ...

and Pinnaroo railway line about 40 km west of the Victorian border, or 210 km east 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 ...

. It is primarily a service town for the surrounding rural areas, growing grain and

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated ...

. Lameroo now includes the former settlements of Kulkami, Mulpata, Wirha and Gurrai, which were on the Peebinga railway line, and Wilkawatt, which was between Parrakie and Lameroo on the Pinnaroo railway. At the 2016 census, the locality of Lameroo had a population of 852 of which 562 lived in and around its town centre. The local school, the Lameroo Regional Community School is the school not only for Lameroo youth, but also surrounding towns Geranium, Parrakie and Parilla. The town is home to the Lameroo Hawks Football Club, coached by former

Adelaide Crows The Adelaide Crows (officially the Adelaide Football Club) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 1990. The Crows has fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) since ...

player Rodney Maynard.

History

Land in the Murray Mallee region was first taken up on pastoral lease in the late 1850s. For the first twenty years there were several lessees; the area had limited grazing during this time. After a well was dug at Lameroo, then known as Wow Wow Plain, in 1884, settlement on Wow Wow Plain became permanent. The land was surveyed in 1894, and the initial survey of Wow Wow Plain gave each block some natural open land to start cultivating. The town reserve was proclaimed in 1894 and a Government well was excavated. The town was named Lameroo in 1904 at the suggestion of J.M. Johnston who had worked on the

Overland Telegraph Line The Australian Overland Telegraph Line was a telegraphy system to send messages over long distances using cables and electric signals. It spanned between Darwin, in what is now the Northern Territory of Australia, and Adelaide, the capital o ...

and heard the word in Darwin (as the name of the Lameroo Beach) and liked the sound of it. Much of the land that became the District Council of Lameroo (now the western part of the Southern Mallee District Council) was released for pastoral ownership in about 1858. Lameroo celebrated its centenary in 2006, it being 100 years since the railway line was built through Lameroo. The historic former Bank Manager's Residence and the Irish Martyrs

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Church are 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 South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. ...

. The Pinnaroo railway line opened through Lameroo in 1906. It initially carried mixed goods, as well as passengers. In later years, only bulk grain was transported on the line, with trains emptying the silos at Lameroo. After mid-2015, the railway ceased to be used, and the 2015 harvest onwards would be transported away by road.

Media

Lameroo was the home of the ''Pinnaroo Country News'' (5 June 1908 – 31 March 1922), which was the first country newspaper established by newspaperman James Barclay, in partnership with William Macfarlane. After 1911, it suffered due to the arrival of the ''

Pinnaroo and Border Times Pinnaroo may refer to: Queensland *Pinnaroo Cemetery and Crematorium, Brisbane South Australia *Pinnaroo, South Australia, a town and locality * District Council of Pinnaroo (1908-1920), a former local government area which was renamed in 1920 as ...

'' (1911-1941). Lameroo was also home to two short-lived publications: the ''Lameroo Weekly News'' (9 – 30 June 1922), printed by Chas. Laycock; and, the ''Lameroo Mail'' (11 – 18 February 1927), printed by G.W. Veale.

Attractions

Lameroo is sandwiched between the

Billiatt Wilderness Protection Area __NOTOC__ Billiatt Wilderness Protection Area is a protected area located about north of Lameroo in South Australia. The wilderness protection area occupies in land in the gazetted localities of Billiatt, Lameroo and Sandalwood. The wilder ...

to the north, and the Ngarkat Conservation Park to the south. Both protected areas are reserves for bushwalkers and nature enthusiasts. In spring, native Australian wildflowers abound in the Ngarkat, while the Billiatt offers native fauna such as kangaroos and mallee fowl.

Notes and references

External links

Town mapWalkabout – Lameroo
{{authority control Murray Mallee Towns in South Australia