Black Rock (formerly known as Dalton) is a hamlet in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

on the Black Rock Plains at the intersection of the south–north

RM Williams Way RM Williams Way (route B80) is a road through the Yorke and Mid North region of South Australia connecting Clare in the south through Spalding, Jamestown and Orroroo to Hawker in the Flinders Ranges. The road was named after R. M. Willia ...

(B80) between Jamestown and Orroroo and the west–east Wilmington–Ucolta Road (B56) to

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

, 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 souther ...

section of the state. It is also the site (and name of) a former railway siding on the now removed Peterborough–Quorn railway line."Back on the rails at Black Rock"
''The Northern Argus'' accessed 30 April 2010

History

Located 19 km south east of Orroroo, the town was originally laid out as "Dalton" and proclaimed on 15 December 1881. It is named after a nearby hill identified by Captain E.C. Frome in 1842. The town was renamed "Black Rock" in 1940

Railways

The

railway line Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...

through Dalton was built in 1881, as part of the Great Northern Railway. In its day, Dalton was home to a gang, and a station master. The last commercial trains to operate through Black Rock were grain trains between

and Orroroo, in 1988. The railway connecting Black Rock to Orroroo and Peterborough was removed in late 2008. However track was left in situ in the yard, and over the Black Rock Bridge, located approximately 1 km south. Black Rock Bridge, at 241 metres (792 feet), is the longest bridge on the old Peterborough Division Black Rock Yard hosted the first of a proposed annual Kalamazoo race on 27 March 2010. The event was reported as being very successful.

The town

Whilst people still live in Black Rock, the town is nearly empty. A number of buildings still stand, including the Black Rock Hotel. This last traded commercially in the mid-1980s.

Name

Governor Jervois named the town. He possibly named it after Charles James Dalton who, from 1829, was an officer in the Royal Artillery and a contemporary of Governor Jervois while serving in the Royal Engineers. Alternatively he may have named it after the English town of Dalton which translates as 'village in the dale (valley)’ or it may come from the Gaelic dall-dun – 'dark hill'. South Australian Names

References

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