Snowtown is a town located in the Mid North of South Australia 145 km (90 miles) north of Adelaide and lies on the main road and rail routes between Adelaide and Perth — the Augusta Highway and Adelaide-Port Augusta railway line. The town's elevation is 103 metres (338 feet) and on average the town receives 389 mm of rainfall per annum.
History
The settlement of Snowtown by non-indigenous Australians initially grew up around a railway station on the Brinkworth-Wallaroo line. Located on what was traditionally the land of the Kaurna (indigenous) people, the first pioneers arrived sometime between 1867 and 1869 due to the rapid expansion of farming to the north of the area. During this period one of the first major structures, the old Snowtown Pub was built in 1868. Bailliere's South Australian gazetteer and road guide, published in 1866, contains a brief description of "Hummock's Run" located 28 miles (45 km) north of Port Wakefield. This farmland, according to the publication, contained the farming stations of Barunga, Bumbunga and Wokurna and consisted of "salt lakes and lagoons, dense scrub, with mallee, pine and bushes, grassy plains and saltbush, well grassed spurs and hills, with oaks and wattle on the Broughton River."
The Government only started showing interest in the settlement as late as 1869 when it planned to establish various new towns throughout the district and to divide the land into much smaller holdings. Snowtown's charter was formally proclaimed by the then Governor of South Australia, Sir William Jervois, in 1878. Jervois named the town after one of the members of the Snow family who were his cousins and lived on Yorke Peninsula (which lies immediately west and southwest of Snowtown). It is officially considered that the town was named after Thomas Snow, who became Jervois's aide de camp when he received his posting in South Australia.
Bumbunga Province
During the 1970s and 1980s, the secessionist micronation of Bumbunga Province existed on farmland owned by the Brackstone family, 15 kilometres south of Snowtown.
Snowtown murders
In 1999, Snowtown became notorious as the location where the remains of eight bodies were found in barrels of acid stored in a disused bank vault. The Snowtown murders or Bodies in Barrels murders, as they came to be known, occurred in several locations in South Australia between August 1992 and May 1999. The bodies were held at a series of locations around Adelaide for some time, and were moved to Snowtown in early 1999, a few months before their discovery.
Only one victim was killed in Snowtown and none of the victims or the perpetrators were local to the town. Most of the murders had actually been committed in the outer northern suburbs of Adelaide, located on the outskirts of the South Australian capital.
Four people led by John Justin Bunting were convicted of murder or assisting the murders. Snowtown, a film about the murders and the life of Bunting, was released in 2011.
Geography and climate
Snowtown is situated approximately 7 kilometres east of Barunga Gap, South Australia, a cleft between the Barunga and Hummocks ranges. The excess rainfall from these hills collects in Lake Bumbunga, directly south of the township, and in a trail of smaller lakes stretching north of the town to Lake View near the main highway and railway line. Beyond the eastern edge of the township is the Snowtown Golf Course and a swampy region populated by saltbush and other salt-tolerant flora.
Snowtown has a warm Mediterranean climate with average summer temperatures around 30 °C and winter temperatures around 16 °C. The average annual rainfall is 407.4 millimetres , most of which falls in the winter months.
Governance
The town administration now falls under the control of the Wakefield Regional Council for local governance. This body came into effect on 1 July 1997 as a result of the amalgamation of the former District Council of Blyth-Snowtown and the former District Council of Wakefield Plains.
Snowtown lies in the state electoral district of Frome and in the federal electoral division of Grey.
Economy
Located in what is described as a wheat-belt, the local Snowtown economy is predominantly based on cereal crops. Other primary industries include woolgrowing, livestock production and salt mining (at the nearby Lake Bumbunga saltworks).
Snowtown is a service centre for the local area, providing various essential services for the district as well as for motorists on the Augusta Highway, the section of Highway 1 past the town.
In 2008, TrustPower completed the first stage of the 47-turbine Snowtown Wind Farm in the Barunga and Hummocks ranges just west of Snowtown. The wind turbines are 110 metres from the ground to tip of the top wing.
Built environs
The town's main street, Fourth Street contains most of the town's civic buildings, notably the Snowtown Memorial Hall (built 1919) which is attached to the Old Institute (built 1889). Nearby is the town's tribute to the original pioneers telling visitors that the town's population is 520.
In 2008, a monument in the form of a 44-metre wind turbine blade was installed at the intersection of Fourth Street and Railway Terrace East.
Transport
The main north-south road running just outside the western edge of the town was designated to form part of Australia's Highway 1 in 1955. The section passing Snowtown (from Port Wakefield to Port Augusta) was named Augusta Highway in 2011.
The Brinkworth–Kadina railway line opened in 1879. It connected Snowtown via Bute to the port of Wallaroo, initially built as narrow gauge. This line was converted to broad gauge in 1927, but closed following the gauge standardisation of the Adelaide-Crystal Brook line in 1982.
The Salisbury-Redhill broad railway gauge line was opened in 1925 and intersected the town along a north-south axis. In 1982 the line was converted to standard gauge, making it a part of the Adelaide-Port Augusta railway line.
School
In 1879 Mrs Lamb opened a Provisional School in Snowtown with a total enrolment of 14 pupils. During its lifetime agricultural science has been a particular focus for the school.
In 1961 the school became an area school known as Snowtown Area School and was located on 4.5 hectares (11 acres) of land, with an additional 10 hectares (25 acres) of land used for agricultural studies.
In the 1970s and 1980s, the school's respected agricultural credentials drew students from neighbouring communities. The school provided many entries into Royal Adelaide Show livestock and horticulture competitions, especially the sheep and beef cattle categories. In the early 1980s the school became a poll dorset sheep stud called 'SASdor' for several years.
Pupil enrolments at Snowtown Area School in 2006 totalled 118, with many pupils also travelling from nearby Lochiel, Barunga Gap and Redhill. As of 2006[update] pupils were also able to study via distance education through the Open Access College at Marden (Adelaide) or via larger neighbouring schools to increase their range of subject choices.
By 2012, the fall in enrolments, and consequent drop in funding, led to the ceasing of senior enrolments at the commencement of the 2013 school year. The school was subsequently renamed to Snowtown Primary School.
In 2015, pupil enrolments at Snowtown Primary School totalled 52.