Marree (formerly Hergott Springs) is a small town located in the north of
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...
. It lies North of
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
at the junction of the
Oodnadatta Track and the
Birdsville Track, above sea level.
Marree is an important service centre for the large sheep and cattle stations in northeast South Australia as well as a stopover destination for tourists traveling along the Birdsville or Oodnadatta Tracks.
The area is the home of the
Dieri
The Diyari (), alternatively transcribed as Dieri (), is an Indigenous Australian group of the South Australian desert originating in and around the delta of Cooper Creek to the east of Lake Eyre.
Language
Diyari is classified as one of the ...
Aboriginal people. At the
2011 census, the Marree census district which includes the entire northeastern corner of South Australia had a population of 634, with 70% of the population being male.
The town of Marree has a population of approximately 150 persons.
[ The major areas of employment are mining, agriculture and accommodation services.
The town was home to Australia's first mosque, which was made of mud brick and built by the ]Afghan
Afghan may refer to:
*Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia
*Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity
**Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pash ...
cameleers employed at Marree's inception. At the turn of the 20th century the town was divided in two, with Europeans on one side and Afghans and Aborigines on the other.
History and Etymology
The first European to explore the area was Edward John Eyre, who passed through in 1840. In 1859, explorer John McDouall Stuart visited the area together with the German botanist and accomplished bushman Joseph Herrgott, who discovered the springs which Stuart named after him. Herrgott had previously taken part of B. H. Babbage's expedition to Lake Torrence. He died only years afterwards, 1861, 36 years old.
Initially the area was known as ''Herrgott (or Hergott) Springs'', with the town’s post office given the name ''Hergott Springs'' after surveying of the town in 1883. The town was also recognised as Hergott Springs in the 1911 census. Eventually, the town’s name was changed to Marree in 1917 due to anti-German sentiment after World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
.
The historic Marree Hotel and Marree Fettlers' Cottages are listed on the South Australian Heritage Register.
Parts of '' The Inbetweeners 2'', a 2014 British comedy film set in Australia, were filmed in Marree.
Early transportation and telegraphy
The Central Australia Railway reached the town in 1883 and the first train ran to the railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...
in January 1884. The South Australia Post and Telegraph Department established a telegraph and post office in Maree in June of 1884. It operated in a canvas tent, until a more permanent structure was built. The first station master was James Arthur O’Brien (born 1863) who held the post from 1884-1901.
The town became a major railhead
In the UK, railheading refers to the practice of travelling further than necessary to reach a rail service, typically by car. The phenomenon is common among commuters seeking a more convenient journey. Reasons for railheading include, but are ...
for the cattle industry. The railway was extended north from the town in stages, reaching Alice Springs
Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' A ...
in 1929. It was on the route of the passenger train which became known as '' The Ghan''. In 1957, a standard gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in E ...
line was built south from Marree on a flatter alignment to facilitate the movement of coal from the Leigh Creek Coalfield to Port Augusta
Port Augusta is a small city in South Australia. Formerly a seaport, it is now a road traffic and railway junction city mainly located on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf immediately south of the gulf's head and about north of the state c ...
. That made Marree a break-of-gauge on ''The Ghan'' service because the remainder of the line was still narrow gauge. In 1980 the narrow gauge line from Marree to Alice Springs closed when the Adelaide to Alice Springs line was rebuilt much further west. In 1987 the standard gauge line to Marree was closed north of the coal mine and the town lost its railway connection completely.[''The Dual Gauge Yards at Marree'' Reid, Graeme Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, May 1997 pp147-156]
Marree was also the home of Tom Kruse, one of the men who drove the mail trucks from Marree to Birdsville in Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, establishe ...
, a distance of some 700 kilometres. This route crosses some of the most challenging sandy and stony desert country in Australia, and it was a remarkable feat for fully loaded trucks to make the run at all. A collection of hundreds of photographs, documents and memorabilia from Kruse's Birdsville mail run are on display at the Marree Hotel.
Marree Man
The name "Marree" was referred to briefly around the world when in 1998, a chalk figure recently etched into the landscape 60 km west of Marree was discovered, dubbed the "Marree Man". Calls were made to turn it into a state icon but the unimpressed local population preferred to let it fade naturally back into the landscape.
Governance
Marree is located within the federal Division of Grey, the state electoral district of Stuart
Stuart is a single-member 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 Territory border in the north and the Queens ...
, the Pastoral Unincorporated Area
A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music (pastorale) that depic ...
of South Australia and the state’s Far North region. In the absence of a local government authority, the community in Marree receives municipal services from a state government agency, the Outback Communities Authority.
Climate
Like much of inland Australia, Marree has a very hot and dry climate in a desert
A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...
environment. Temperatures above have been recorded in every month from October to April and rainfall is extremely erratic, falling mostly in brief heavy downpours experienced usually between one and five times per year, or when cold fronts in winter manage to penetrate far north enough into the Tirari Desert
The Tirari Desert is a desert in the eastern part of the Far North region of South Australia. It stretches 212 km from north to south and 153 km from east to west.
Location and description
The Tirari Desert features salt lakes and ...
.
References
External links
The first mosque
built in Australia by Muslim Afghan Cameleers.
GSL Aviation - Local Scenic Flight Operator
Marree town information
{{authority control
Far North (South Australia)
Towns in South Australia
Places in the unincorporated areas of South Australia