Laura is a rural town in the

Mid North The Mid North is a region of South Australia, north of the Adelaide Plains and south of the Far North and the outback. It is generally accepted to extend from Spencer Gulf east to the Barrier Highway, including the coastal plain, the southern ...

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 ...

, 12 km north of Gladstone on the Horrocks Highway and 40 km east of

Port Pirie Port Pirie is a small city on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf in South Australia, north of the state capital, Adelaide. The city has an expansive history which dates back to 1845. Port Pirie was the first proclaimed regional city in South A ...

. The first European to explore the district was

Thomas Burr Thomas Burr (1813–1866), surveyor and mine manager, was a British explorer and Deputy Surveyor General of South Australia 1839–46. Early life in England Born 1813 in England, probably at Kent, Thomas Burr's father was George Dominicus Burr ...

in September 1842. His promising reports soon led to occupation of the district by pastoralists, one of whom was Herbert Bristow Hughes (c. 1821 – 18 May 1892). When the present town was surveyed he named it for his wife, Laura née White (c. 1829 – 5 January 1909). Laura is administered by the

Northern Areas Council Northern Areas Council is a local government area in the Yorke and Mid North region of South Australia. The council seat and main council offices are at Jamestown, while the council also maintains district offices at Gladstone and Spalding. ...

, and is in the state

electoral district of Stuart Stuart is a single-member electoral district for the South Australian House of Assembly. At 323,131 km², it is a vast country district extending from the Spencer Gulf as far as the Northern Territory border in the north and the Queensl ...

and the federal Division of Grey. It was formerly the council seat of the Corporate Town of Laura (1882–1932) and the District Council of Laura (1932–1988), as well as the

District Council of Booyoolie The District Council of Booyoolie was a local government area 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 ...

(1876–1932), which covered the area surrounding the township. The ''Laura Community Development and Tourism Association Incorporated'' liaises with the Northern Areas Council in preserving the amenity of the rural centre, with the support of many volunteers in community projects. The LCDTA's major project is operating the community-owned Laura Caravan Park. Profits from the caravan park operations are then used for improvements in the township. The Spiny Daisy ( Acanthocladium dockeri) was rediscovered in 1999 near Laura. The species, which was last seen in the South Australian Riverland in 1910, was found along a roadside.

Attractions

Current

The Laura Folk Fair is a two-day event held in April every year. There is no admission fee which makes the Folk Fair a family friendly outing. The Laura Country Music Festival has been held annually in July since 2011. Laura is famous as the home of Golden North ice cream which has been manufactured in the town since 1923 (the factory being the biggest employer in the district)

Former

The Wilmington railway line was built from Gladstone railway station to Laura in 1884. It was extended from Laura in 1910 to Booleroo Centre, and finally to Wilmington in 1915. It closed in 1969. The historic former Laura Courthouse in Hughes Street is 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. ...

Media

Between 1889 and 1948, Laura had its own newspaper, the ''Standard''. Its first iteration, ''Laura Standard'' (subtitled: ''and Beetaloo, Wirrabara, Melrose, Booleroo Centre and Yarrowie Advertiser'') ran from 1889. In 1917 it merged with ''Crystal Brook Times'' to form ''Laura Standard and Crystal Brook Courier''. In 1948, this newspaper then merged with ''Areas' Express'' and ''Agriculturist and Review'' to form ''Northern Review'' (later becoming ''

The Flinders News ''The Flinders News'' is a weekly newspaper published in Port Pirie, South Australia, formed from the historic mergers of multiple Mid North, Mid-North publications and representing a combined ancestry of 12 former publications. Its earliest cons ...

'').

Notable residents

C. J. Dennis Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis (7 September 1876 – 22 June 1938), better known as C. J. Dennis, was an Australian poet and journalist known for his best-selling verse novel ''The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke'' (1915). Alongside ...

(1876–1938), poet and writer * Gordon Jackett (1887–1951), politician * Brenton Miels (1948–1997), Australian Rules footballer

References

{{authority control Towns in South Australia Mid North (South Australia)