Yongala is a small town located in the state of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a 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 of Australia's states and territories ...

, Australia. It has a population of approximately 240 people and is situated on the Clare-Peterborough Road (B79), 238 km (148 mi) from

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 ...

, the state capital.

History

The Hundred of Yongala was proclaimed in the County of Dalhousie in 1871, one of the first of the twelve hundreds to be declared in that county, opening up the area for closer settlement and small-scale cultivation. The town was proclaimed on 23 May 1876. Within five years there was a population of 353 as developers anticipated the connection of a

railway 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 tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

. Instead, the railway was built through the nearby town of

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

. The SS ''Yongala'' launched in 1903 and owned by the

Adelaide Steamship Company The Adelaide Steamship Company was an Australian shipping company and later a diversified industrial and logistics conglomerate. It was formed by a group of South Australian businessmen in 1875. Their aim was to control the transport of goods b ...

was named after the town. It sank in a storm in 1911 off the coast of

Townsville, Queensland Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 30 ...

and its wreck site is protected by the Commonwealth ''

Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976 The ''Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976'' was an Australian Act of Parliament designed to legally protect historic shipwrecks and any relics or artefacts from those wrecks. The Act automatically affects all shipwrecks that meet the "historic" crit ...

''.

Geography and climate

Yongala has a warm semi-arid climate (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''BSk''). It is situated on a

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ...

of and winter

snowfalls Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

can occur. The town holds several records for the lowest minimum temperature in South Australia: including its all-time record low of on 20 July 1976, in addition to the record low temperatures in South Australia for the months of May, June, August and September.

References

{{authority control Towns in South Australia