Stirling North is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

located east of

Port Augusta Port Augusta is a small city in South Australia. Formerly a seaport, it is now a road traffic and railway junction city mainly located on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf immediately south of the gulf's head and about north of the state c ...

in the

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

state of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, 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 o ...

. The now abandoned

Marree railway line The Marree railway line is located in the Australian state of South Australia. History As a result of the opening up of the Leigh Creek Coalfield in the late 1940s and capacity restrictions on the existing narrow gauge Central Australia Railwa ...

forms the official border line separating the two towns. Primarily, Stirling North is a

satellite town Satellite cities or satellite towns are smaller municipalities that are adjacent to a principal city which is the core of a metropolitan area. They differ from mere suburbs, subdivisions and especially bedroom communities in that they have m ...

to Port Augusta, in part because the Stirling North railway station was a rail junction at various times for four railway lines. Married railway employees from the station and Port Augusta were accommodated in about 100 houses near the station, and facilities such as a recreation hall were built by the

Commonwealth Railways The Commonwealth Railways were established in 1917 by the Government of Australia with the Commonwealth Railways Act to administer the Trans-Australia and Port Augusta to Darwin railways. It was absorbed into Australian National in 1975. O ...

. A junction of the

Augusta Highway Augusta Highway is the part of Australia's ring route ( Highway 1) located in South Australia between Port Wakefield and Port Augusta. Route Augusta Highway starts at the intersection with Eyre and Stuart Highways in Port Augusta West, then ...

and the

Flinders Ranges Way Flinders Ranges Way (route B83) is the main road route through the Flinders Ranges in South Australia. It starts from the Augusta Highway at Stirling North, 6 km southeast of Port Augusta. The Flinders Ranges Way extends 209 km to Blin ...

also adjoins the town. At the , Stirling North had a population of 2,673.

History

The locality that became Stirling North was originally known as Minchin Well – named after Henry Paul Minchin, the Sub-protector of Aborigines, who visited

Aboriginal people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

at their camp next to a

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a h ...

they had used for millennia and in 1854 organised a well to be dug. Later a stand pipe was constructed in the centre of the town to water stock and people. In 1859

Robert Barr Smith Robert Barr Smith (4 February 1824 – 20 November 1915) was an Australian businessman and philanthropist in Adelaide, South Australia. He was a partner in Elder Smith and Company from 1863 (now now Elders Limited). Early life and education Smi ...

laid out a township there and named it "Stirling" after Edward Stirling, his business partner in Elder Smith & Co. Ltd, the firm that became the large agribusiness company, Elders Limited. The town of Stirling North was surveyed in 1859 as "Stirling North" after Edward Stirling Snr, but was renamed 'Catninga' after a nearby creek. In 1916 however, this decision was overturned and the name was reverted to 'Stirling North'. On 17 February 1994, suburban boundaries were assigned. the Great Northern Railway eastwards, which finally ended at

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' A ...

; a standard gauge line southwards to

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 ...

; a mainly coal-haulage

line Line most often refers to: * Line (geometry), object with zero thickness and curvature that stretches to infinity * Telephone line, a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system Line, lines, The Line, or LINE may also refer to: Art ...

headed northwards to

Leigh Creek Coalfield Telford Cut was an open-cut coal mine, now closed, in the Leigh Creek Coalfield in South Australia. For the 72 years between its opening in 1943 and its closure, the mine supplied sub-bituminous coal to fire power stations first in Adelaide the ...

and Marree; and a dual-gauge

branch line A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Industrial spur An industr ...

to the Port Augusta power stationPort Augusta

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many ...

. The town has existed mainly to service the

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...

s, with Leigh Creek

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

freighted down to

for use in the

. The historic

Pichi Richi Railway The Pichi Richi Railway is a narrow-gauge heritage railway in the southern Flinders Ranges of South Australia between Quorn and Port Augusta. For much of its length the line lies in the picturesque Pichi Richi Pass, where the line was complete ...

runs through Stirling North, between Port Augusta and

Quorn Quorn is a brand of meat substitute products, or the company that makes them. Quorn originated in the UK and is sold primarily in Europe, but is available in 14 countries. The brand is owned by parent company Monde Nissin. Quorn is sold as b ...

, one of the only

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism ...

attractions within the town. The town's historic Davenport Reservoir and Storage Tank is listed on the South Australian Heritage Register.

Facilities

Stirling North is not normally a

destination, but is commonly used as a service stop by travellers who do not want to travel the extra 8 km into Port Augusta. The town is situated at the base of the Southern

Flinders Ranges The Flinders Ranges are the largest mountain range in South Australia, which starts about north of Adelaide. The ranges stretch for over from Port Pirie to Lake Callabonna. The Adnyamathanha people are the Aboriginal group who have inhabit ...

, and is often used by people travelling north. The town has a number of services including accommodation in the form of

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

s, a public bar, a number of food shops, general store, fuel outlets, a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional se ...

and public telephones. Only two sporting venues are present in the town, a

tennis court A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the centre. The same surface can be used to play both doubles and singles matches. A variety of surfaces can be ...

, bike track, park (with toilets), public school which has a large oval and a

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". ...

Notes

References

External links

Town information and Facilities

Port Augusta City Council site
{{authority control Towns in South Australia Far North (South Australia)