Booleroo Centre is a town in the southern

Flinders Ranges The Flinders Ranges are the largest mountain ranges in South Australia, which starts about north of Adelaide. The ranges stretch for over from Port Pirie to Lake Callabonna. The Adnyamathanha people are the Aboriginal group who have inhab ...

region of South Australia. The town is located in the Mount Remarkable District Council

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

, north of the state capital,

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 ...

. At the 2006 census, Booleroo Centre had a population of 516.

History

In 1853 a pastoral lease was taken out by partners William Spence Peter and George Elder who then pioneered a sheep station which they named the Booleroo run. The name was derived from a local Aboriginal word. Sources vary on its meaning with suggestions including "plenty" or "soft mud". In 1856 W.S. Peter, who also owned Gum Creek Station near Hallett, became a brother in law to

George Charles Hawker Sir George Charles Hawker (21 September 1818 – 21 May 1895) was a South Australian settler and politician. Early life Hawker was born in London, the second son of Admiral Edward Hawker and his first wife, Joanna Naomi (née Poore). He was edu ...

Bungaree Bungaree, or Boongaree ( – 24 November 1830), was an Indigenous Australian man from the Broken Bay region north of Sydney, who was known as an explorer, entertainer, and Aboriginal community leader.Barani (2013)Significant Aboriginal People ...

and Anama Stations. George Elder was a brother of Alex Elder, founder of

Elders Limited Elders Limited, formerly known as Elder, Stirling & Co., Elder Smith and Co. and Elder Smith & Co. Ltd, is an Australian agribusiness that provides agricultural goods and services to primary producers in Australia. History Early history (1839 ...

. On 28 February 1861 the Booleroo run was profitably auctioned when W.S. Peter decided to settle in the

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

region of New Zealand as a stud sheep breeder. The purchaser was former Londoner Philip Levi, whose pastoralism interests eventually included Moolooloo, North-West Bend, Gum Creek, Mount Margaret, among others.

Land reforms Land reform (also known as agrarian reform) involves the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership, land use, and land transfers. The reforms may be initiated by governments, by interested groups, or by revolution. Lan ...

of the 1870s saw many pastoral leases resumed by the government in order to subdivide the land for closer farming settlement, the Booleroo run being among them. The pastoralists were to be replaced by grain farming agriculturalists. The Hundred of Booleroo was officially proclaimed in 1875 however no town was surveyed at this time. A town site in the hundred was surveyed by the colonial government in 1878, but the early settlers established the town elsewhere. The town's location at the centre of the Hundred of Booleroo led to the name Booleroo Centre. The historic Booleroo Whim well on the Willowie-Booleroo Road is listed on the

South Australian Heritage Register The South Australian Heritage Register, also known as the SA Heritage Register, is a statutory register of historic places in South Australia. It extends legal protection regarding demolition and development under the ''Heritage Places Act 1993'' ...

Media

Booleroo Centre was home to two separate, but short-lived publications: * ''Booleroo Times'' (1 February 1912 – 24 July 1913) – published at the ''Crystal Brook Times''. * ''Booleroo Magnet'' (24 March 1914 – 27 April 1915) – published by W.H. Bennett. In April 1915, the title was briefly extended to ''The Booleroo Magnet and Wirrabara and Melrose Advocate''.

Present day

The major industry in Booleroo Centre today is

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...

production with

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 ...

and lamb production also important. The town is also the service centre to the surrounding agricultural district. Facilities in the town include a range of shops and Uniting,

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

churches. Booleroo Centre is also host to large grain receival facilities and fertiliser depots. The Booleroo Centre Hotel, the local

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

, was established in 1883. Regional services offered in Booleroo Centre include the Booleroo Centre District Hospital, part of the Mid North Regional Health Service, providing health services to the town and a large catchment area with a population of 3,000. The Booleroo Centre District School enrolled 225 students from

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

to Year 12 in 2007. The school draws students from surrounding towns such as Wirrabara, Melrose and Wilmington.

Homeschooling Homeschooling or home schooling (American English), also known as home education or elective home education (EHE) (British English), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted ...

also plays a role within the community, with several local students being educated in this way during recent years. Booleroo steam and traction-small

] Booleroo Centre is home to the Booleroo Steam & Traction Preservation Society Museum. The society, developed from an annual rally first held in 1969, now maintains one of Australia's largest collections of

tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a Trailer (vehicle), trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or constructio ...

s and

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs Work (physics), mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cyl ...

s along with farm and other steam equipment requiring over of undercover storage space. The rally is held at the town oval the last Sunday in March.

Transport

Booleroo Centre was serviced by the

Wilmington railway line The Wilmington railway line was a railway line on the South Australian Railways network. It opened from Gladstone to Laura on 2 June 1884. It was extended from Laura to Booleroo Centre on 13 April 1910, and to Wilmington on 20 July 1915. Th ...

from 1910 until 1969. In 1884 the portion of railway between Gladstone and Laura was opened, but did not reach to Booleroo Centre. Coaches took travellers to the railhead. Agitation went on for many years until, in 1910, the first railway to Booleroo Centre was opened by the

South Australian Railways South Australian Railways (SAR) was the organisation through which the Government of South Australia built and operated railways in South Australia from 1854 until March 1978, when its non-urban railways were incorporated into Australian Natio ...

. The new (narrow) gauge line ran 24.25 miles (39 kilometres) between Laura and Booleroo Centre. The line was extended to Wilmington in 1915. The railway greatly facilitated the shipment of locally produced bagged wheat through Gladstone to export ports such as Port Pirie. In 1910 there were 100,000 bags of wheat stacked at Booleroo. It also provided valuable passenger services for many decades, until improvements in road transport began to replace rail, resulting in ceasing passenger service in 1969 and eventual closure in 1982.

Notable people

* Bob Schulz (1923–2008), fashion designer *

Vern Schuppan Vernon John Schuppan (born 19 March 1943) is an Australian former motor racing driver. Schuppan drove in various categories, participating in Formula One, the Indianapolis 500 and most successfully in sports car racing. Although he considers ...

(1943–), motor racing driver,

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

winner

References

{{authority control Towns in South Australia Flinders Ranges