Wilmington, South Australia

For other uses, see Wilmington, South Australia.

Wilmington is a town and locality in the Yorke and Mid North region of South Australia.The town is located in the District Council of Mount Remarkable local government area, 305 kilometres (190 mi) north of the state capital, Adelaide.

Wilmington South Australia
Wilmington Memorial Hall, 2017
Wilmington
Coordinates	32°39′09″S 138°05′56″E[1]
Population	472 (UCL 2021)[2]
Established	13 April 1876 (town) 13 March 1997 (locality)[3][4]
Postcode(s)	5485[5]
Time zone	ACST (UTC+9:30)
• Summer (DST)	ACST (UTC+10:30)
Location	220 km (137 mi) N of Adelaide 43 km (27 mi) SE of Port Augusta 24 km (15 mi) N of Melrose
LGA(s)	District Council of Mount Remarkable Flinders Ranges Council
Region	Yorke and Mid North[6]
County	Frome[1]
State electorate(s)	Stuart
Federal division(s)	Grey
Mean max temp[7] Mean min temp[7] Annual rainfall[7] 24.7 °C 76 °F 13.6 °C 56 °F 437.8 mm 17.2 in
Localities around Wilmington: Saltia Quorn Bruce Hammond Woolundunga Nectar Brook Mambray Creek Wilmington Amyton Willowie Baroota Melrose Willowie
Footnotes	Adjoining localities[1]

Originally named "Beautiful Valley",^[8] Wilmington is a farming community, known for sheep, wheat and barley, but more recently the temperature conditions and rainfall have contributed to the increasing popularity of the planting of olive groves.

The town has a post office, hotel, two caravan parks, take-away shop, two service stations, primary school, kindergarten, museum and op shop.

It borders the Mount Remarkable National Park and the Alligator Gorge is a 10-minute drive from Wilmington.

Wilmington is a popular place to stay due to its proximity to the tourist areas of the Flinders Ranges, most notably Wilpena Pound.

Wilmington was established as a stop over route for grain and wool being delivered by horse and cart from Port Augusta on its way to Adelaide. The historic Wilmington Coaching Stables on Fourth Street survive and are listed on the South Australian Heritage Register.^[9]

The town and surrounding areas formerly had their own municipality, the District Council of Wilmington, which merged into the current District Council of Mount Remarkable in 1980.^[10]

Transport

Wilmington was the northern terminus of the Wilmington railway line from 1915 when the line was built until it closed in 1990.

Wilmington is on the Horrocks Highway at the junction where Main North Road turns west to pass through Horrocks Pass, and Horrocks Highway continues north to Quorn, South Australia. South of Wilmington, the same road carries both names to Gawler on the northern outskirts of Adelaide.

Terka

A town was surveyed in 1924 adjacent to the Terka railway siding six kilometres south of Wilmington, which was named from a nearby homestead. The town was "declared ceased to exist" in 1983 and is now considered to be part of the area of Wilmington.^[11]

References

1. "Search results for 'Wilmington, LOCB' with the following datasets being selected – 'Suburbs and Localities', 'Counties', "Hundreds', 'Local Government Areas', 'SA Government Regions', 'Land Development Plan Zone Categories' and 'Gazetteer'". Location SA Map Viewer. Government of South Australia. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
2. Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Wilmington (urban centre and locality)". Australian Census 2021. 
3. "Township of Wilmington" (PDF). South Australian Gazette Gazette. South Australian Government. 13 April 1876. p. 671. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
4. "GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES ACT 1991 Notice to Assign Names and Boundaries to Places" (PDF). South Australian Gazette Gazette. South Australian Government. 13 March 1997. p. 1177. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
5. "Postcode for Wilmington, South Australia". postcodes-australia.com. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
6. "Yorke and Mid North SA Government region" (PDF). The Government of South Australia. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
7. "Monthly climate statistics: Summary statistics Summary statistics Port Augusta Power Station (nearest weather station)". Commonwealth of Australia, Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
8. "Death of Sir John Bice". The News. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 9 November 1923. p. 1 Edition: Home. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
9. "Former Coaching Stables, Wilmington". South Australian Heritage Register. Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
10. "Annual Report 2004/2005" (PDF). District Council of Mount Remarkable. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
11. "Placename Details: Terka". Property Location Browser. Land Services, Government of South Australia. 12 May 2011. SA0048147. Retrieved 27 February 2016.