Jamestown is a town in the Mid North region 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 ...

north of

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 ...

. It lies on the banks of the Belalie Creek and on the Crystal Brook-Broken Hill railway line between

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

and

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 ...

, and ultimately on the main line linking

and

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. Jamestown is the council seat of its local municipality, Northern Areas Council. Jamestown is in the South Australian Legislative Assembly

electoral district of Stuart Stuart is a single-member Electoral districts of South Australia, 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 Territo ...

and the federal

Division of Grey The Division of Grey is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in South Australia. The division was one of the seven established when the former Division of South Australia was redistributed on 2 ...

Description

Jamestown (originally James Town) was named after Sir James Fergusson, the

Governor of South Australia The governor of South Australia is the representative in South Australia of the monarch, currently King Charles III. The governor performs the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the governor-general of Aust ...

when the town was surveyed in 1871. Its streets are all named for towns in his native

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Major products of the area are

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...

legume Legumes are plants in the pea family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seeds of such plants. When used as a dry grain for human consumption, the seeds are also called pulses. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consum ...

wool Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...

and

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

. The world's first plantation forest was the Bundaleer Forest first planted in the area in 1876. The local area had first been granted self-government as the District Council of Belalie in 1875, but the township of Jamestown itself had separated as the Corporate Town of Jamestown in 1878. The Belalie council, comprising the surrounding areas, merged into the new District Council of Jamestown in 1935. Jamestown continued with two municipalities, one for the town and one for the surrounding area, until their amalgamation in 1991; the amalgamated municipality then merged into the new Northern Areas Council in 1997. In July 2017, US tech giant Tesla won a bid to build a 129 megawatt hour (MWh) battery at Hornsdale Wind Farm at nearby Hornsdale. It was completed on 25 November 2017, and was the largest of its kind in the world. This was the first ever major battery storage installed on a country's power grid. Jamestown was also the home of the World Famous Belalie Lofts. Spencer Morgan Evan's a Racing Pigeon Fancier was the owner of these Lofts and imported the best long distance pigeons from England at great expense around the early 1900's era. His birds were purchased by other fancier's all over Australia, New Zealand and America.

Notable people

Sir John Cockburn was the town's first

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

doctor Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

, and later

Premier of South Australia The premier of South Australia is the head of government in the state of South Australia, Australia. The Government of South Australia follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of South Australia acting as the legislature. The premier i ...

in 1889–1890. Jamestown is the birthplace of Australian bush legend, Reginald Murray Williams (1908–2003), better known as R. M. Williams, the bush outfitter; Sir Raphael Cilento (1893–1985), tropical medicine pioneer, noted public servant and father of actress Diane Cilento; Paul Cronin (1938–2019), actor; and Edgar Mayne (1882-1961), test cricketer.

Military history

Jamestown has proud military history, with monuments featured within the township. The Memorial Park features a restored 1907

Krupp Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp (formerly Fried. Krupp AG and Friedrich Krupp GmbH), trade name, trading as Krupp, was the largest company in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century as well as Germany's premier weapons manufacturer dur ...

SFH02 Cannon. It was captured in

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

in November 1917 as part of the

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

campaign. In 1918 the Cannon was ceded to the 9th Australian Light Horse Regiment in the initial distribution of captured weapons.

Heritage listings

* 21 Ayr Street: National Australia Bank Building * 42 Ayr Street: Eudunda Farmers Store * Irvine Street: Trooper Goodes Memorial * 5 Irvine Street : Jamestown Post Office and Dwelling

Events

In the spring of 2016, the town had three events taking place – Jamestown Racing Club annual

Horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

meeting with the Jamestown Cup, a Mural Fest and the Jamestown Show.

References

External links

Northern Areas Council page on Jamestown
{{authority control Towns in South Australia Mid North (South Australia)