Naracoorte, South Australia


Naracoorte is a town in the Limestone Coast region of South Australia, approximately 336 kilometres south-east of Adelaide and 100 kilometres north of Mount Gambier on the Riddoch Highway.

History

The Naracoorte Caves National Park, a World Heritage Site near Naracoorte, is renowned for their exceptionally well-preserved fossils. Now ow-extinct species of marsupials, including the marsupial lion, date to the Pleistocene period.
Before the colonisation of South Australia in 1836, the land now occupied by the town of Naracoorte was situated on the border of lands occupied by the Bindjali people to the east and Ngarrindjeri to the east.
Naracoorte was formed from the merger of two towns, Kincraig, founded in 1845 by Scottish explorer William Macintosh, and Narracoorte, established as a government settlement in 1847. The name has gone through a number of spellings, and is believed to be derived from the Aboriginal words for place of running water or large waterhole. It grew during the 1850s as a service town for people going to and from the Victorian gold rush. The post office opened in March 1853 and was known as Mosquito Plains post office until 1861.
The District Council of Naracoorte was established in August 1870 to locally govern the lands of the Hundred of Naracoorte. In 1888 the size of the district was dramatically expanded to include surrounding areas not yet locally governed. As a consequence, in February 1924 the Corporate Town of Naracoorte was established to provide dedicated local governance to the township.
In 1935 a cinema, the Austral Theatre, designed by Chris A. Smith, opened at 124-140 Smith Street. It was later known as the Rivoli Theatre.
The Kingston-Naracoorte railway line was closed on 28 November 1987 and dismantled in September 1991. On 12 April 1995, the Mount Gambier to Wolseley line was closed, while pending gauge standardisation.

Governance

Since 1993, Naracoorte has been locally governed by the amalgamated Naracoorte Lucindale Council. Naracoorte is in the state electoral district of MacKillop, and the federal Division of Barker.

Economy

Naracoorte has historically been a service centre for the sheep, cattle and wheat farming industries in the surrounding area.
In recent decades, tourism has become a major industry due to the town's proximity to several wine regions and internationally recognised natural features. Both the World-Heritage-listed Naracoorte Caves National Park, the Ramsar-listed Bool and Hacks Lagoons are south of the township. The wine regions of Coonawarra and Wrattonbully lie further south, while the Padthaway lies to the north, placing Naracoorte at the centre of the three.
Other places of interest to tourists include:
  • The Visitor Information Centre & Sheep's Back Museum – MacDonnell Street
  • Lions Pioneer Park – MacDonnell Street
  • Tiny Train Park & Mini Golf – Park Terrace
  • Naracoorte Art Gallery – Ormerod Street
  • Mini Jumbuk Centre – 61 Smith Street
  • Swimming Lake – Moore Street
  • Jubilee Nature Park – Moore Street
  • Russet Ridge Winery – Cnr Caves Road and Riddoch Highway
  • Struan House – Riddoch Highway

Heritage listed sites

Naracoorte has a number of sites listed on the South Australian Heritage Register, including:

Education

There are three schools: Naracoorte High on Stewart Terrace, Naracoorte Primary on Park Terrace and Naracoorte South Primary. Independent schools include Naracoorte Christian School, also called Sunrise Christian School, on Caves Road.

Services

  • Naracoorte Hospital
  • Police at 66 Smith Street
  • Transport – Bus station at 170 Smith Street

Climate

Naracoorte has a dry temperate mediterranean climate, bordering on semi-arid climate. It has warm, dry summers that are frequently interrupted by cold fronts. Naracoorte has cool, very rainy winters.

Media

Newspapers

The town is home to The Naracoorte Herald, a newspaper published in the town under that name since 1948. Prior to that, the newspaper had used the older spelling of the town, and was known as The Narracoorte Herald, which had begun publication on 14 December 1875. It was formerly part of Fairfax Media, with the Fairfax regional office located in the town on Smith Street. Since mid 2019, it has been owned by Australian Community Media, who purchased the Rural Press publications when Fairfax was bought by Nine.
In 1912, a nearby publication, the Tatiara and Lawloit News, which also printed in Naracoorte, was absorbed into the Herald.
In May 2020, a new rival paper, "Naracoorte Community News" was launched by Michael Waite to fill the gap left by the suspension of ‘'The Naracoorte Herald'’ during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Television

WIN Television's Channel 10 broadcasts Network Ten programming, Channel Seven broadcasts Seven Network programming & Channel Nine broadcasts Nine Network programming. The programming schedules for these channels is the same as Channel Nine, Channel Seven and Channel Ten in Adelaide. Local commercials are inserted and some variations made for coverage of Australian Football League or National Rugby League matches, state and national news, and current affairs programs, some lifestyle and light entertainment shows and infomercials.

Radio

;ABC
;Commercial
;Community
  • Connect FM
  • LIME FM

Sport

Naracoorte has an Australian Rules football team competing in the Kowree-Naracoorte-Tatiara Football League. Naracoorte supplies players for a number of surrounding teams, such as Kybybolite, Padthaway and Border Districts.
Naracoorte has a rugby league team that competes in the Limestone Coast Rugby League called the Naracoorte Jets.
Naracoorte has a soccer club competing in the Limestone Coast Football Association.
The Naracoorte Racing Club holds thoroughbred horse racing at its track located 4 kilometres from the centre of the town.

Notable residents