Birkenhead is a north-western suburb of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

14 km from the CBD, on the

Lefevre Peninsula The Lefevre Peninsula is a peninsula located in the Australian state of South Australia located about northwest of the Adelaide city centre. It is a narrow sand spit of about running north from its connection to the mainland. The name given ...

, 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 ...

, and lies within the City of Port Adelaide Enfield. It is adjacent to Peterhead,

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal c ...

and Glanville. It is bounded to the south by the Gawler Reach of the

Port River The Port River (officially known as the Port Adelaide River) is part of a tidal estuary located north of the Adelaide city centre in the Australian state of South Australia. It has been used as a shipping channel since the beginning of European ...

, to the north by Hargrave Street and in the west and east by the

Outer Harbor railway line The Outer Harbor railway line is a suburban branch line in Adelaide, South Australia. It runs from Adelaide station through the north western suburbs to Port Adelaide and Outer Harbor. It is 21.9 kilometres in length, and shares part of its r ...

and the Port River respectively. It was laid out on section 700, Hundred of Port Adelaide by

Thomas Elder Sir Thomas Elder, (5 August 1818 – 6 March 1897), was a Scottish-Australian pastoralist, highly successful businessman, philanthropist, politician, race-horse owner and breeder, and public figure. Amongst many other things, he is notable fo ...

and John Hart. Birkenhead Post Office opened around 1884. Birkenhead is essentially a residential suburb, with industrial harbourside development on the southern and eastern shores of the suburb. It is notable for the

Birkenhead Bridge The Birkenhead Bridge is a bascule bridge in Adelaide, Australia that crosses the Port River. In February 1938, the Government of South Australia awarded a contract to Adelaide Construction to build a bridge across the Port River from Birkenhead ...

, which formerly opened on a regular basis so that boats could pass along the Port River. It is also the site of a third Port River crossing, the Port River Expressway. It includes the opening Tom 'Diver' Derrick Bridge, designed to ease traffic congestion in the area and opened in August 2008, adjacent to the opening

Mary MacKillop Bridge The Mary MacKillop Bridge is a bascule bridge in Adelaide, Australia that carries the Dry Creek-Port Adelaide railway line over the Port River. In July 2005, Abigroup was awarded a contract to build a railway bridge and the adjoining Tom 'Di ...

. The Birkenhead Bridge and the former HMAS Encounter Naval Drill Hall 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. It extends legal protection regarding demolition and development under the ''Heritage Places Act 1993' ...

Facilities

The suburb is served by a primary school, Lefevre Peninsula Primary School, and the local high school is Lefevre High School, in nearby Semaphore South. There is little commercial activity in the area, as this is plentiful south of the river in Port Adelaide. The eastern side of the suburb, by the Port riverside is the location of the Adelaide Brighton Cement company, and a berth for the Shell Oil Company. Its southern shore was formerly the location of a naval yard (now TS Adelaide), the Bureau of Customs, Fletcher's Dock and Fletcher's Slip, DMH Dockyard, the Jenkins Street boatyards and the Port Adelaide Sailing Club, however these have mostly been closed or relocated. The area was earmarked for residential development as part of the "Newport Quays" redevelopment project, but the site remains vacant (2015) following the loss of development rights by the Newport Quays consortium in 2011. The former Port Adelaide Sailing Club building, renamed Gallery Yampu, is currently used by the not-for-profit Port Adelaide Artists Forum to host occasional art exhibitions and community events. It also houses Dragon Boat SA.Home for dragon boats ''Portside Messenger'' 8 June 2011

Governance

Birkenhead is located in the federal division of

Hindmarsh Hindmarsh is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Alfred Hindmarsh, MP for Wellington South (New Zealand electorate) and first leader of the New Zealand Labour Party *Ian Hindmarsh, Australian rugby league player * Jean Hindm ...

, the state electoral district of Port Adelaide and the local government area of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield.

Transport

Adelaide Metro route 150 bus services operate along Semaphore and Fletcher Roads, while routes 352 and 353 serves Semaphore and Fletcher Roads and Hargrave Street. Routes 333 and N254 serve Semaphore Road. The suburb also is serviced by Peterhead railway station on the

Notable residents

* A number of

Port Adelaide Football Club Adelaide Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia. The club's senior men's team plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), where they are nicknamed the Power, whilst its reserv ...

players were born or have lived in Birkenhead, including dual Magarey Medal and Bob Quinn. * John Turner (naval officer)

Facilities

Governance

Transport

Notable residents

References

See also