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Mt Barker Local History Centre

Name: Mt Barker Local History Centre
Address: 5 Dumas Street, Mount Barker, SA, 5251, AU
Telephone: 83936474
Price range: $

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Mt Barker Local History Centre

The Local History Centre holds an extensive collection of material relating to the history of the Mount Barker District.

The Local History Centre at Mt Barker holds an extensive collection of material relating to the history of the district. Those researching their family history, the history of their house or other landmarks in the region, or just the district in general will find plenty of resources available to assist them. Our collection currently includes:

- Birth, death and marriage registers
- Burial regist

er details and tombstone transcriptions for a range of cemeteries
- Copies of The Courier newspaper
- Historical photographs
- School records
- Information on heritage listed buildings
- Reference books
- A collection of unpublished material
- Much, much more

A Local History Officer is also available Tuesday to Thursday, 9am to 3:50pm to help you with your research. Posts to this page are authored by Rhiannon Agutter, Local History Officer; and Bruce Hemmer and Shay Hannah, Local History Volunteers.

19/06/2026

During the late 1880s, the Fairfield Apiary, owned by Messrs. Coleman and May, was recognised as the largest beekeeping operation in the Mount Barker district. Within its first year of production, the apiary earned a special award at the inaugural Adelaide Flower Show for its impressive display of comb and extracted honey.

The hives were arranged on a gentle east‑facing slope, protected at the back by a dense hedge. When the red gums on the opposite hillside burst into blossom, the bees produced honey in abundance. Of the 109 hives on the property, all but two were home to the common black bee. One hive housed the highly regarded Ligurian bees, while the other contained hybrids, a cross between the Ligurian and the black bee. Although the Ligurians would readily enter the black bees’ hives, it was rare for an ordinary worker to slip past the vigilant guards of the Ligurian colony.

At the height of the season, the apiary could extract as much as 140 kilograms of honey in a single day.

In January 1905, a fire destroyed ‘Fairfield’, leaving only the outer walls standing. The land is now occupied by Newenham Estate, off Bollen Road.

Sources:
Photograph:
B 59543 The apiary at ‘Fairfield’ Mount Barker. Date: 1887. Courtesy of the State Library of South Australia.

Mount Barker Courier Newspaper 8 May 1885

https://localhistory.mountbarker.sa.gov.au/

12/06/2026

Did you know that Mt Barker once had its very own electricity company?

In 1923, Mount Barker operated its own small electricity service, run from a building known as the ‘power-house’ located within W. Jacobs & Co. factory. The plant produced enough power to light twenty three streetlamps around the town, three more in nearby Littlehampton, and to supply electricity to about 170 private customers.

On 14 June 1923, more than four hundred residents gathered at the corner of Gawler Street and Hutchinson Street to witness a major milestone. The chairman of the Mount Barker Electricity Company, Bruce Barker, officially activated the town’s new electric lighting system, marking the beginning of a new era for the community.

W. Jacobs factory was located on Dutton Road, opposite the railway station. The building has since been demolished and the ‘Homemaker Centre’ is located there now.

Source:
Local History Database
https://localhistory.mountbarker.sa.gov.au/

Photograph:
PH-V4-00007: Mt Barker: Aerial view of W. Jacobs Ltd. Bacon factory and dairy produce Co. Ltd. Date: 1939

VF MTB-HI-00002 History of Mt Barker compiled by Jean Trigg & Marjorie Roberston. Date: 1950.

05/06/2026

The first Mount Barker Rifle Club was formed in 1891 under the Defence Forces Act, led by Captain H. Paltridge, but it disbanded in 1897 when the Act was repealed. Several attempts to restart followed, and a new range was finally built near the railway station and opened in 1913, supported by local benefactor R. Barr‑Smith. The club grew steadily through the 1920s and 1930s, hosting major prize meetings and attracting shooters from across South Australia.

In 1937, it adopted the name Mount Barker & Districts Rifle Club. When the old range lease expired in 1938, members temporarily shot at Hahndorf until the current range, west of Mount Barker on Hawthorn Road, opened in 1940. The modern club was formally incorporated in 1961 and continues to operate from the same site today.

Source: Local History Database

Photographs:

PH-V3-00112: Mt Barker: Rifle Club Date: Circa 1920.
Members of the Mt Barker Rifle Club have been identified. Back Row L-R: [unidentified], [unidentified], Monks ?, Vic Oborn, [unidentified], [unidentified], [unidentified]. Middle Row L-R: Ben Heinjus, Shepherd ?, Harvey Davis, Paltridge or Bell, E.G.A. Tyrie, Jack Duffield. Front Row L-R: [unidentified], Billy Love, [unidentified], [unidentified].

PH-V117-00008: Mt Barker: Rifle Range, annual fathers and sons match held on ANZAC Day - standing Bob and Jeff Edwards, Trevor Deed, kneeling- Tom and Bob Richards-Mousley, Frank Pinyon Jnr and mother (Sarre Cup winners). Courier Newspaper photograph.

PH-V14-00063: Mt Barker: Rifle Club - Liz Forbes, Vanessa Byers and Gail Thompson.
Date: 1975. Courier Newspaper Photograph.

29/05/2026

Adelaide Road buzzed with activity in December 1979 as crews from E.T.S.A, E & W.S., Telecom, and the Highways Department worked simultaneously to prepare and reconstruct Adelaide Road to the freeway.

From the High School all the way to the South Eastern Freeway interchange, the entire stretch was being expanded into a four lane highway, with completion targeted for April 1980.

A real sense of déjà vu.

Sources:

Local History Centre

https://localhistory.mountbarker.sa.gov.au/

Photographs: Graham Crack collection.
PH-D-V6-00529 Mt Barker: A street view of a tree lined, two-lane Adelaide Road, captured from the start of the interchange. Date: 1979.

PH-D-V6-00562 Mt Barker: A street view of a two-lane Adelaide Road looking towards Auchendarroch, captured near Hill Street. A road work in progress sign is for the trees being axed for the upgrade of Adelaide Road to four-lanes. Date: 1979.

PH-D-V6-00580 Mt Barker: The Highways Department working on Adelaide Road four-lane highway upgrade near Hawthorne Road. Date: 1979.

22/05/2026

Joins us on:
Friday 29 May
10.30am – 12 noon
Mount Barker Community Library

Free event, afternoon tea included.

Bookings are essential: https://tinyurl.com/mrx7rhrz

Hear about the life of young missionary Clamor Schurmann from his time in Adelaide in 1838 teaching school in Kaurna language to Kaurna children and publishing a Kaurna grammar and dictionary, to his time in the troubled settlement of Port Lincoln. Here after some challenges, he was able to publish a grammar and dictionary in Barngaria language.

Relations between settlers and locals on Eyre Peninsula kept deteriorating as settlement expanded, leading Schurmann to resign. Later, at North Shields, he returned to his beloved vocation as a teacher of Aboriginal children.

Copies of the book will be available to purchase on the day (cash only)

21/05/2026

Originally opened as the Wheatsheaf Inn in 1842 by William Worland, this stopover was one of the first hotels in the Adelaide Hills. With twenty comfortable rooms and a prime position on the Aldgate–Strathalbyn Road at Biggs Flat, it became a favourite rest point for travellers heading to the Victorian goldfields in the 1850s.

In 1879, the estate entered a new chapter when it was purchased by George Woodroofe Goyder CMG, South Australia’s Surveyor General from 1861 to 1893 and Goyder renamed the property to Warrakilla.

Goyder played an important role in the development of South Australia’s agricultural landscape. After the severe drought of 1864–65, he was tasked with surveying the state’s struggling pastoral lands.

The result of his work led to the creation of the famous Goyder’s Line—a boundary distinguishing land suitable for reliable cropping from land better suited to grazing. This insight guided settlement and farming practices for generations.

Source:

Local History Database
https://localhistory.mountbarker.sa.gov.au/

Photographs:

Courtesy of the State Library of South Australia
[B 15158] "Warrakilla", the owner, George Woodroffe Goyder (right) in the garden. Goyder died at his home on November 2, 1898 leaving an estate of 4,000 pounds. His dream home was completed in 1883. It later became South Australia's first to***co plantation. Circa 1895.

Courtesy of the State Library of South Australia
[B 496] [On back of photograph] 'George Woodroffe Goyder'. He started out as a surveyor in South Australia and the Northern Territory, rising in the Civil Service to become the Surveyor General. Circa 1895.

PH-V42-00053 - Warrakilla. Date: 1994

20/05/2026

History Festival 2026

Stories From Stone with Clare Dorey

Joins us on:

Wednesday 27 May
1.00pm – 2.30pm
Mount Barker Community Library

Free event, afternoon tea included.

Bookings are essential: https://tinyurl.com/mrx7rhrz

Honouring Mount Barker’s WWII Memorial Men.Sons, friends, students, athletes, farmers, fathers, fiances and larrikins. Before they enlisted, they were the young men of our district, full of life and promise.

Uncover the personal stories behind each of the faces. Through letters, photographs, interviews, and army records, the experiences of those who fell in World War II are brought to life.

This tribute is a reminder that behind every name carved in stone is a life worth knowing.

Copies of the book will be available to purchase on the day (cash only)

15/05/2026

The First and Last Postmistresses of the Dawesley Post Office

The Dawesley Post Office began its story in 1873, when a combined shop and dwelling was built for Elias Davies. Upon completion, Elias secured the licence to operate the Post Office, a role he officially held until his death in 1907. His wife, Sarah Lydia Davies (née Watts), then took over the licence and continued in the position until her own passing in 1925.

In practice, however, Sarah had long been the true postmistress. By 1875, Elias was deeply involved in establishing one of South Australia’s earliest bacon factories,
Davies’ Bacon Factory, leaving his wife Sarah to manage the daily operations of the Post Office.

Nearly half a century later, Mrs Iris Kain became the final chapter in this local institution’s history. After serving as postmistress for 38 years, she closed the doors of the Dawesley Post Office for the last time in 1974.

With its closure, the community lost not only a postal service but also a cherished gathering place, where conversations flowed easily and a welcoming cup of tea was always close at hand.

Sources:

Local History Database
https://localhistory.mountbarker.sa.gov.au/

Photographs:
Call number: PH-V56-00040
Dawesley: Sarah and Elias Davies. c1870’s

Call Number: PH-V62-00167
Dawesley: Post office closed, Mrs. Iris Kain. 1974

Nairne: Origins and early history of the Dawesley Post Office and Elias Davies, first postmaster.
Date: 1997
VF NAI-NC-00004

08/05/2026

History Festival 2026

History of Hahndorf: Colour and Learn with Maya

Joins us on:

Friday 15 May
10.30am – 12 noon
Mount Barker Community Library

Free event, morning tea included.

Bookings are essential: https://tinyurl.com/mrx7rhrz

Maya's book is about the history of Hahndorf, Australia's oldest surviving German settlement.
Unique among Australian towns, Hahndorf is steeped in tradition, vibrant with culture, and warmly welcoming to all. Each narrated scene in the book invites you to become a quiet observer of the past, while accompanying colouring-in page helps bring the story to life and deepen your connection to the people, places, and historical moments that shape this remarkable town in the Adelaide Hills.

Copies of the book will be available to purchase on the day.

07/05/2026

Macclesfield has a long, intermittent history of marble quarrying. The stone, found in shades of pink, blue, grey, and white, was widely regarded by experts as exceptionally high quality. When polished, it was said to rival the finest Italian marble.

A significant moment came in 1858, when the Adelaide Observer reported that John Kellett had discovered a valuable deposit of white marble on recently purchased land in Macclesfield. The find drew immediate interest, and the Victorian Government expressed its intention to use Macclesfield marble extensively in the construction of Melbourne’s new Houses of Parliament. This enthusiasm led to the formation of the Macclesfield Marble Company, though the venture proved short‑lived; by 1870, reports indicated that the quarry had ceased operations.

Interest revived in 1897 when John Webb, the landowner through whose property the marble reef ran, employed three men to fill small orders, supplying stone to Morgan’s Monumental. By 1906, the Mount Barker Courier Newspaper noted that the marble’s excellent quality had again attracted attention. Webb had received a substantial order from an Adelaide firm for 4,000 slabs destined for mantles, tabletops, and headstones.

The quarry’s most productive period came between 1927 and 1929, when around 1,000 tons of marble was extracted and transported to Adelaide for use in the construction of the State War Memorial on North Terrace.

Sources:
Photograph:
PH-V55-00134 Macclesfield: Marble Quarry owned by John Webb. Circa 1900.

Local History Database
http://localhistory.mountbarker.sa.gov.au

Macclesfield: Reflections along the Angas by Jim Faull

Mount Barker Courier 16 February 1906

TROVE: Adelaide Observer 28 August 1858

Address

5 Dumas Street
Mount Barker, SA
5251

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 7pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 8pm
Friday	9am - 5pm
Saturday	9am - 4pm

Telephone

83936474

Website

http://localhistory.dcmtbarker.sa.gov.au/

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