Willalooka is a small service town and locality in the

Limestone Coast The Limestone Coast is a name used since the early 21st century for a Regions of South Australia#South Australian Government regions, South Australian government region located in the south east of South Australia which immediately adjoins ...

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

Riddoch Highway Riddoch Highway is a rural highway in south-eastern South Australia, designated as route A66 between Keith and Mount Gambier, with the remainder between Mount Gambier and Port MacDonnell designated as route B66. It is named after John Riddoch, ...

between Keith and Padthaway. Christmas Rocks Conservation Park is north of the town adjacent to the highway. Services in the town include the

Country Fire Service The South Australian Country Fire Service (SACFS, commonly abbreviated as CFS) is a volunteer based fire service in the Australian state of South Australia. The CFS has responsibility as the Control Agency for firefighting, rescues and Hazar ...

, a community hall, tavern, fuel and general store. The dominant industry in the area is farming, especially sheep. Near Willalooka is the ''Darwent Waterhole,'' called by the local Aborigines ''kongal,'' meaning 'water mallee'. South Australian Names
Joseph Darwent, an American steamship owner who took up several pastoral properties near Willalooka in the 1870s. Not to be confused with Joseph Darwent (c. 1824 – 20 October 1872), an English accountant, secretary of the Adelaide City and Port Railway Company, then partner in

Darwent & Dalwood Darwent & Dalwood was a partnership of Joseph Darwent and William Dalwood put together expressly to tender for work on the Overland Telegraph Line. The partners Accountant Joseph Darwent (c. 1824 – 20 October 1872) arrived in South Australia abo ...

who contracted for the northernmost section of the

Overland Telegraph Line The Australian Overland Telegraph Line was an electrical telegraph system for sending messages the between Darwin, in what is now the Northern Territory of Australia, and Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. Completed in 1872 (with a li ...

. Nor his nephew, Joseph Darwent, jun. (1847 – 10 August 1926), from

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, who had a property near Coonawarra and lived in Penola, where he was a member of the District Council for 35 years and Chairman for 25. The

2016 Australian census The 2016 Australian census was the 17th Census in Australia, national population census held in Australia. The census was officially conducted with effect on Tuesday, 9 August 2016. The total population of the Commonwealth of Australia was count ...

which was conducted in August 2016 reports that Willalooka had a population of 143 people. Willalooka is located within the federal division of

Barker Barker may refer to: Occupations * Barker (occupation), a person who attempts to attract patrons to entertainment events * Barker (coachbuilder), a builder of horse-drawn coaches and later of bodywork for prestige cars * a person who strips tanbar ...

, the state electoral district of MacKillop and the local government area of the

Tatiara District Council Tatiara District Council is a local government area located in south-eastern South Australia. The name Tatiara is said to mean "the good country", a phrase which dates back to the area's first inhabitants, the Bodaruwitj people. It is one of th ...

Hundred of Willalooka

The bounded locality of Willalooka corresponds precisely in land area to the cadastral Hundred of Willalooka in the County of Buckingham. The hundred was named in 1921 after the earlier pastoral property in the area. Its surveyed area is a rectangle of .

References

{{authority control Limestone Coast 1921 establishments in Australia

Hundred of Willalooka

See also

References