Farina, formerly Farina Town and originally Government Gums, is an abandoned town in the Australian 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. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. The name also applies to an area of about in which the town is located. At the 2006 census, 55 people lived in the larger area; by the 2021 census, the population had fallen to 15. Farina sits within the arid

Lake Eyre basin The Lake Eyre basin ( ) is a drainage basin that covers just under one-sixth of all Australia. It is the largest endorheic basin in Australia and amongst the largest in the world, covering about , including much of inland Queensland, large port ...

, north of Lyndhurst and south of Marree where the Oodnadatta Track and the

Birdsville Track The Birdsville Track is an outback road in Australia. The track runs between Birdsville in south-western Queensland and Marree, a small town in the north-eastern part of South Australia. It traverses three deserts along the route, the Strzel ...

commence. It is due north of the state capital;

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

in the days when the rail connection was narrow gauge to Port Augusta, the distance by rail was . A drone view of Farina i
here.

History

In 1876, after a police trooper had been posted to the Government Gums, a "long neglected district", a deputation asked for a portion of the district to be allotted as a township so that a post office might be erected; that a telegraph station be opened; and that a weekly mail service from Beltana to the north-west be set up. The townsite, on a reserve surrounding ''Gums Waterhole'', was surveyed and on 21 March 1878, Farina Town was proclaimed. Originally called The Gums or Government Gums, Farina was settled in 1878 by optimistic farmers hoping that '' rain follows the plough''. The town became a

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