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Loxton is a town on the south bank of the River Murray in the
Riverland The Riverland is a region of South Australia. It covers an area of along the Murray River, River Murray from where it flows into South Australia from New South Wales and Victoria (Australia), Victoria downstream to Blanchetown, South Australia ...
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 ...
. It is located on the lands of the Erawirung people who occupied the area before the arrival of Europeans. It is a service town for the surrounding districts. Loxton's primary productions are agriculture and horticulture.
Citrus fruit ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering plant, flowering trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as Orange (fruit), oranges, Mandarin orange, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, ...
, wine grapes, almonds, and stone fruit trees are prevalent. Loxton is also the main town for the northern part of the
Murray Mallee The Murray Mallee is a cereal, grain-growing and sheep-farming area in the east of the Australian state of South Australia. The name is not formally designated but is widely used to refer to an area of approximately bounded by the Murray Rive ...
which is a dryland farming and
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 ...
cropping area. Loxton High School provides secondary education for the area. Loxton has a pioneer settlement museum (known as the Loxton Historical Village), preserving the heritage of the mallee region. It is also famous for the "Loxton Lights Up" Christmas Festival in December each year, and the annual 120m Loxton Gift handicap sprint race held in late February. The town hosts the second round of the Australian HPV Super Series in May annually. Loxton is the seat of the
local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...
of the
District Council of Loxton Waikerie The District Council of Loxton Waikerie is a Local government in Australia, local government area in the Murray Mallee region of South Australia. The council seat lies at Loxton, South Australia, Loxton, while it maintains a branch office at Wai ...
. It is in the
South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly (also known as the lower house) is one of two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia, the other being the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide. Overview The House of Assem ...
electoral district of Chaffey Chaffey, created in 1936, is a single-member Electoral districts of South Australia, electoral district for the South Australian House of Assembly. It covers the Riverland region of South Australia including the towns of Renmark, South Australia ...
and the
Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Australian Senate, Senate. Its composition and powers are set out in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. ...
division of Barker The Division of Barker is an Australian electoral division in the south-east of South Australia. The division was established on 2 October 1903, when South Australia's original single multi-member division was split into seven single-member d ...
. The town is home to a variety of service clubs, most notably the Apex Club,
Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest Service club, service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, go ...
, and
Lions Club Lions Clubs International, is an international service organization, currently headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois. , it had over 46,000 local clubs and more than 1.4 million members (including the youth wing Leo clubs, Leo) in more than 200 ge ...
.


Media

Historically, Loxton has been home to several newspapers. These include: * ''Loxton Clarion'' ''(and Murray lands Advocate)'' (2 July 1925–2 October 1928) - The ''Loxton Clarion'''s proprietor, Jack Irving, endeavoured to produce a publication reflecting the concerns of Loxton and surrounding districts. Its articles covered crops, care of livestock, vehicle maintenance, and local sport. From 23 July 1925, it was known as ''The Loxton Clarion and Murray Lands Guardian''. In late 1928, it was absorbed into '' The Murray Pioneer and Australian River Record.'' * ''Loxton Community Newsletter'' (June 1956–March 1960) - A monthly newspaper, published by The Loxton District War Memorial Community Centre, and incorporated into the ''Loxton News'' in 1960. * '' Loxton News'' (28 April 1960 – 2020) - Irving came out of retirement to found a new newspaper. In 1964 it (like Irving's ''Clarion'') was sold to the '' Murray Pioneer''. The newspaper has gone on to win many Country Press SA awards. Channels from the following television networks are available in Loxton: *
ABC Television ABC Television most commonly refers to: *ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or *ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia ABC Television or ABC ...
(ABC) *
SBS Television The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from tax revenue. SBS operates six TV channels ( SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS World Movies, SBS ...
(SBS) *
WIN Television WIN Television is an Australian television broadcasting, Australian television network owned and operated by WIN Corporation that is based in Wollongong, New South Wales. WIN commenced transmissions on 18 March 1962 as a single television stat ...
(7, 9 and 10) as RTS-5A and LRS-34 relays the programming from
Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...
(Seven SA),
Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...
(Nine SA) and
Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's Paramount Networks UK & Australia, UK & Australia division and is o ...
(10 SA),
Sky News Regional Sky News Australia is an Australian news channel owned by News Corp Australia. Originally launched on 19 February 1996, it broadcasts rolling news coverage throughout the day, while its prime time lineup is dedicated to opinion-based programs fe ...
and Fox Sports News. SDS/RDS and MGS/LRS inserts local commercials, while SES/RTS takes a direct dirty feed of SAS-7 Adelaide since 30 June 2024.


Transport

The first form of regular transport to Loxton was
paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine driving paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, whereby the first uses were wh ...
s on the Murray River. The
Loxton railway line The Loxton railway line is a closed railway line in the northern Murray Mallee region of South Australia. It ran north-east from Tailem Bend to grain silos near Loxton. History The first stage of the Brown's Well railway line opened from ...
, completed in 1914, connected Alawoona and
Tailem Bend Tailem Bend (locally, "Tailem") is a rural town in South Australia, south-east of the state capital of Adelaide. It is located on the lower reaches of the River Murray, near where the river flows into Lake Alexandrina (South Australia), Lake Al ...
to
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 ...
. Loxton today is connected by road to the
Sturt Highway Sturt Highway is an Australian national highway in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. It is an important road link for the transport of passengers and freight between Sydney and Adelaide and the regions along the route. Initiall ...
, which passes nearby at Kingston On Murray and is the northern terminus of the Karoonda Highway and eastern terminus of the
Stott Highway Stott Highway is a state-controlled highway in South Australia, linking Angaston in the Barossa Valley, through Sedan and Swan Reach, to Pyap in the Riverland region. It was named after Tom Stott, a member of the South Australian state pa ...
. The railway line now terminates at the Tookayerta grain terminal south of the town and does not carry any passengers. The line was closed in 2015.


Salt interception scheme

Loxton is a town with many farms and fruit crops. The joint programme of salt interception schemes to help keep salt out of the River Murray, costing an estimated $60 million, commenced in 2001. This programme was expected to deliver 61 EC at
Morgan Morgan may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Morgan – A Suitable Case for Treatment'', also called ''Morgan!'', a 1966 comedy film * ''Morgan'' (2012 film), an American drama * ''Morgan'' (2016 film), an American science fiction thriller * ...
by December 2007. The partner Governments of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia and the Commonwealth have agreed that joint salt interception schemes must be both economically and technically feasible.


Loxton Gift

The Loxton Gift athletics carnival offers the most prize money in South Australia apart from the Bay Sheffield held at Glenelg. The program includes races from 70m to 1000m and is the final major South Australian lead-up event to the
Stawell Gift The Stawell Gift is Australia's oldest and richest short-distance running race. It is the main event in an annual carnival held on Easter weekend by the Stawell Athletic Club, with the main race finals on the holiday Monday, at Central Park, S ...
held at Easter.


Loxton Pedal Prix

Since 2014, the streets of the town have been shut off in May for the running of the Loxton Pedal Prix, which is a round of the Australian HPV Super Series. The track incorporates the major central roundabout and the surrounding main streets. It includes two long 600m straights, one uphill and one downhill. The event has proved popular with locals, riders and spectators alike, and is now a mainstay on the Australian HPV Super Series calendar. In 2018 it will be round 2 of the series.


Heritage listings

Loxton has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Bookpurnong Terrace: St Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church and Hall * 29 East Terrace: Loxton Institute * 6 Pflaum Terrace: Loxton Villa


Notable persons born in Loxton

* Emily Beaton (b. 1987), Australian netballer. * Alex Carey (b. 1991), Australian test cricketer * Mark deCaux (b. 1965) Host of the popular series The Bush Bee Man *
Sophie Edington Sophie Jane Edington (born 12 December 1984) is an Australian backstroke and freestyle swimming (sport), swimmer. Biography Edington trained at the Kingscliff ASC club under Greg Salter. After Salter took up an overseas coaching role Edington ...
(b. 1984), Australian swimmer * Grantley Fielke (b. 1962), former Australian rules footballer, and winner of the 1985
Magarey Medal The Magarey Medal is an Australian rules football honour awarded annually since 1898 to the fairest and most brilliant player in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), as judged by field umpires. The award was created by Willi ...
. * Major General Cheryl Pearce AM, CSC, Deputy Chief of Army (2023–) * Grant Schubert (b. 1980), Australian
field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...
gold medallist. * Tim Storer (b. 1969), Australian independent senator 2018–2019


Climate

Loxton has a
cold semi-arid climate Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute thermodynamic ...
( Köppen: BSk), with very warm summers, mild winters and low annual precipitation. Average maxima range from in January to in July. Mean Average annual rainfall is , with a slight winter maximum. Annually, there are 108.2 clear days and 120.1 cloudy days. Extreme temperatures have ranged from on 21 July 1982 to on 20 December 2019.


References


External links


Loxton TourismLoxton Football ClubLoxton Golf Club
{{authority control Towns in South Australia Populated places on the Murray River Riverland