Renmark is a town 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 ...
's rural
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 ...
area, and is located northeast 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 ...
, on the banks of the
River Murray. 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 ...
between Adelaide and
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 ...
runs through the town; Renmark is the last major town encountered in South Australia when driving this route. It is a few kilometers west of the SA–Victoria and SA–NSW borders. It is above
sea level
Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...
.
History

It has been suggested that the name Renmark refers to a local
Aboriginal word meaning "red mud" (the original inhabitants of the area were the
Erawirung people). However, the mud at Renmark is not red. Alternatively, it could be derived from the name Bookmark, later
Calperum, the station founded by the
Chambers brothers, from which was excised for the town and irrigation project. Another possibility is the name of an early settler in the district, William Renny.
Wool was shipped from "Renmark" in 1878, The first unambiguous use of the name (as "Renmark Flat") in newspapers was in November 1883.
Captain Charles Sturt was the first European to pass through the area in January 1830, as he navigated the length of the
Murray River
The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray; Ngarrindjeri language, Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta language, Yorta Yorta: ''Dhungala'' or ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is List of rivers of Australia, Aust ...
from the
Great Dividing Range
The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills. It runs roughl ...
, eventually reaching
Lake Alexandrina.
A settlement began to grow in 1887, when the Renmark Irrigation Settlement was established by
George and
William Chaffey, who created a system of open drains using water from the Murray River, (called Renmark Irrigation Trust) to allow
orchard
An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit tree, fruit- or nut (fruit), nut-producing trees that are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also so ...
s to be planted in the area. By pumping water onto the hot red sand, they transformed it into a fruit growing area similar to
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. The Chaffey brothers' business collapsed in 1893, and the Renmark Irrigation Trust was created to manage the irrigation scheme.
[
Renmark was proclaimed a town in 1904 and a municipality in 1935.][
]
The Renmark Hotel was the first community-owned hotel in the British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...
and became the town's major landmark.
Renmark was connected to Adelaide by rail on 31 January 1927, when the railway line across the bridge to Paringa was opened. It was later extended west as far as Barmera and known as the Barmera railway line but then closed in 1983 then the last scheduled train to cross the bridge was on 31 December 1990.
Heritage listings
Renmark has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
* Murray Avenue: Renmark Hotel
* 149 Murray Avenue: Renmark Irrigation Trust Office
* 24 Ral Ral Avenue: Renmark Post Office
* Renmark Avenue: Renmark Distillery Bridge
* Renmark Avenue: Olivewood
* Sturt Highway: Paringa Bridge
Governance
Renmark is located within the federal 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 state electoral district of Chaffey and the local government area of the Renmark Paringa Council.[
]
Tourism, industry and facilities
Renmark is a multicultural centre for the Riverland area. The river itself offers excellent spots for fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...
, waterskiing
Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on one or two skis. The sport requires sufficien ...
and boating
Boating is the leisurely activity of travelling by boat, or the recreational use of a boat whether powerboats, sailboats, or man-powered vessels (such as rowing and paddle boats), focused on the travel itself, as well as sports activities, suc ...
. The area is known for the cultivation of grape
A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters.
The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...
s, citrus fruits, tomato
The tomato (, ), ''Solanum lycopersicum'', is a plant whose fruit is an edible Berry (botany), berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originate ...
es, vegetable
Vegetables are edible parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. This original meaning is still commonly used, and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including edible flower, flo ...
s, wheat
Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...
and 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 ...
. Orange trees stretch for hectares as do vineyards and stone fruit
In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is a type of fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pip'' (UK), ''pit'' (US), ''stone'', or ''pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed ...
orchards. Other industries include almond
The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', Synonym (taxonomy)#Botany, syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree from the genus ''Prunus''. Along with the peach, it is classified in the subgenus ''Amygdalus'', distinguished from the other subgenera ...
growing and pistachio
The pistachio (, ; ''Pistacia vera'') is a small to medium-sized tree of the Anacardiaceae, cashew family, originating in Iran. The tree produces nut (fruit)#Culinary definition and uses, seeds that are widely consumed as food.
In 2022, world ...
nut cultivation.
Renmark is also home to the region's only restored 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 ...
, the P.S. Industry, wine companies and the rose industry. Renmark hosts the Renmark Rose Festival every October.
The town has their own shopping centre, Renmark Square, including shops such as Subway, The Reject Shop, Jeanswest, a number of community-owned businesses, and Big W
Big W (stylised as BIG W) is an Australian chain of discount department stores, which was founded in regional New South Wales in 1964. The company is a division of the Woolworths Group and as of 2024 operated 179 stores, with around 18,000 emp ...
and Woolworths serving as the anchors.
Many camping grounds are along the river, they are popular destinations for tourists in Renmark.
Murray River National Park
The Murray River National Park includes two locations near Renmark:[ Text may have been copied from this source, which is available under ]
Attribution 3.0 Australia (CC BY 3.0 AU)
licence.
* Paringa Paddock (), including Goat Island, between Renmark and Paringa; and
* Bulyong, or Bulyong Island, on the west side of the river upstream from Renmark, accessible only by boat.
Paringa Paddock (which includes Goat Island) contains areas of riverine woodlands, wetlands
A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...
and river flats. The floodplain
A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...
is lined by huge river red gum (''Eucalyptus camaldulensis'') and river box (''Eucalyptus largiflorens''). The wetland complex provides habitat for koalas, birds and reptiles, and the park provides recreation for people of all ages and abilities. There are walking and biking trails developed by the Renmark Paringa Council and the local community. Bulyong is home to many wildlife species, such as western grey kangaroo
The western grey kangaroo (''Macropus fuliginosus''), also referred to as a western grey giant kangaroo, black-faced kangaroo, mallee kangaroo, sooty kangaroo and (when referring to the Kangaroo Island subspecies) Kangaroo Island grey kangaroo, i ...
s, emu
The emu (; ''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is a species of flightless bird endemism, endemic to Australia, where it is the Tallest extant birds, tallest native bird. It is the only extant taxon, extant member of the genus ''Dromaius'' and the ...
s, pelican
Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before ...
s, kingfisher
Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly coloured birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species living in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...
s and parrots.[
]
Media
The '' Murray Pioneer'', a newspaper founded in 1892 as the ''Renmark Pioneer'', is printed in Renmark.
Channels from the following television networks are available in Renmark:
* ABC Television (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 & 10) as RTS-5A & 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) & 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 ...
(Ten SA), Sky News Regional and Fox Sports News, with local commercials inserted
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...
(ABC) broadcasts a local radio station
Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...
, ABC Riverland (1062 AM), along with national stations ABC Radio National (1305 AM); ABC News Radio
ABC News Radio is the news radio service of ABC Audio, a division of ABC News (United States), ABC News in the United States. Formerly known as ABC Radio News, ABC News Radio feeds, through Skyview Networks, five-minute newscasts on the hour ...
(93.9 FM); ABC Classic
ABC Classic, formerly ABC-FM (also ABC Fine Music), and then ABC Classic FM, is an Australian classical music radio station available in Australia and internationally. Its website features classical music news, features and listening guides. I ...
(105.1 FM) and Triple J
Triple J is an Australian government-funded national radio station founded in 1975 as a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It aims to appeal to young listeners of alternative music, and plays far more Australian conten ...
(101.9 FM).
In addition, there are commercial radio stations, including 5RM
5RM (801 AM broadcasting, AM / 91.5 FM broadcasting, FM) is a South Australian radio station broadcasting from its transmitter site at Renmark, South Australia, Renmark into the Riverland and Mallee (Victoria)
5RM was opened in 1935 and was ori ...
(801 AM); KIX Country
KIX Country is a radio network broadcasting in various towns across Australia. Its target demographic is all people who love country music. Kix Country Radio is part of ARN. It is transmitted primarily via narrowcast stations of varying power. ...
(1557 AM); Magic 93.1 (93.1 FM); Radio TAB (95.5 FM) and Riverland Life FM (100.7 FM).
Sport
Sporting teams
* Renmark Olympic (football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
)
* Renmark Rovers (Australian rules
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...
)
* Renmark Royals (cricket
Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
)
There is a speedway venue known as the Riverland Speedway, off the Sturt Highway to the southwest of the town (). It holds stock car racing, sedans, sprint and speed cars. The 380 metres dirt oval speedway track has hosted numerous Australian Speedway Championships for both motorbikes and cars including the Australian Solo Championship, Australian Street Stock Championship and the Australian Sidecar Speedway Championship. It hosted the Australian Under-21 Individual Speedway Championship in 2009.
The town also is home to the Renmark Oval, a football ground featuring a seating capacity of about 5,000 people. It includes space for venues, and it is the home of the Renmark Rovers.
Notable people
* Thomas Angove, a winemaker from Renmark, invented the process for packaging cask (box) wine,[ patented by his company on 20 April 1965.
* Gordon Bilney – politician
* Rob Bredl – documentary film maker
* Rick Burr – former Chief of Army
* John Cock (RAF officer) – ]flying ace
A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...
of the Second World War
* Syd Heylen – performer
* Rex Hobcroft – musician
* Ruby Hunter, Aboriginal singer-songwriter and partner of Archie Roach
Archibald William Roach (8 January 1956 – 30 July 2022) was an Australian (Gunditjmara and Western Bundjalung people, Bundjalung) singer-songwriter and Aboriginal Australian, Aboriginal activist. Often referred to as "Uncle Archie", Roach wa ...
, was born in 1955 on Goat Island.
* John Percival Jennings – horticulturist
* Cecil Madigan – explorer and geologist
* Mark Mickan – AFL footballer
* Patricia Mickan – basketballer
*Bush poet and soldier Breaker Morant
Harry Harbord "Breaker" Morant (born Edwin Henry Murrant, 9 December 1864 – 27 February 1902) was an English horseman, bush balladist, military officer, and war criminal who was convicted and executed for murdering nine prisoners-of-war ...
lived in the area in the 1890s, before serving in the Boer War
The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic an ...
. Confirmation of his employment at J. F. Cudmore's Paringa Station has not been found.
* Anne Ruston – politician
* Nicole Seekamp – basketballer
* Dean Semler – cinematographer
* Ross Story – politician
* Jack Wade – AFL footballer
* Pearl Wallace, also known as Captain Pearl Hogg, was Australia's first qualified woman riverboat skipper
Climate
Renmark experiences a cold desert climate
The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk'') is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...
(''BWk''), bordering on 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 ...
(''BSk'') with hot, dry summers (though which are subject to cold fronts on account of the western longitude); warm to mild springs and autumns; and cool, sometimes cloudy winters. Renmark is surrounded by mallee scrub, and is situated in a grassland
A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...
location, north of Goyder's Line.
Due to its geographical location, summers are a few degrees hotter than those 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 ...
; although it has many more touches of frost in the winter, and it also lacks Adelaide's sizeable winter precipitation. The average rainfall of Renmark is , peaking somewhat in spring; falling as thunderstorms and/or cold fronts in summer; cold fronts and Northwest cloudbands in winter, and a combination of the three in spring and autumn.
Extreme temperatures have ranged from on 20 December 2019 to on 18 June 1998 at the Aero site. Furthermore, on 5 January 2020, Renmark registered a new record low maximum of just for any summer month; this extraordinarily low maximum was nearly four degrees lower than its previous January low maximum set back in 1983 at the old town site.
See also
* 1956 Murray River flood
* River Murray Crossings
References
External links
Town map
(2011), showing Renmark, Paringa and Paringa Paddock, with Goat Island
(2004)
{{authority control
Towns in South Australia
Populated places on the Murray River
Riverland