Loxton is located 255 kilometres east of Adelaide on the southern bank of the Murray River in the Riverland
region of South Australia.
The town is named after William Charles Loxton who was a boundary rider on Bookpurnong Station.
Erawirung (Jirau) Aboriginal People
The Erawirung (Yirawirung, Jirawirung) people, also known as Yirau, Juju and other names, were an Aboriginal Australian people whose traditional territory was located in what is today the Riverland of South Australia.
Consisting of sub-groups or clans, including Jeraruk, Rankbirit and Wilu, and have also been referred to as Meru people, which was a
larger grouping which could also include the Ngawait and Ngaiawang peoples.
The language of the Erawirung is part of the Meru language group.
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| A drawing from the William Blandowski exploration of the Murray River c1850s. Aboriginal fish traps: "They make stake weirs across the drains, the stakes being firmly driven into the soil within an inch of each other, so that anything having greater bulk than that space must perforce remain on the landward side of the weir. Without any stretch of the imagination, the reader can easily fancy the shoals of fish which congregate behind these weirs when the river is falling, and what a very simple matter the taking of them must be. When fish are required a native takes his canoe into the midst of one of these shoals, and harpoons as many as he wishes, or until he becomes tired of the fun" (Beveridge 1889). |
The tribes which lived on the Lower Murray and Darling Rivers and
extending back to the Barrier and Grey Ranges did not practise circumcision or subincision.
The Meru and Ngarrindjeri people had related male initiation ceremonies, involving hair- plucking and singeing,
covering initiates with red ochre, avoidance of both women and touching water (Hawker 1844; Eyre 1845).
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| Murray River man, South Australia, pre-1893. Photographer unknown. |
The Meru (Erawirung) generally referred to people based north of the North West Bend as "Moon men", and their territory as the "country of the Moon" (Tindale 1953).
Lutheran missionary Christian Gottlieb Teichelmann wrote: "The opinions which the Aborigines of South Australia
entertain about the visible world are limited known, as they carefully conceal them from Europeans, and even their own males are only at a certain age initiated into the knowledge of them". (Teichelmann 1841).
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| (a canoe tree is a tree which has had bark removed by Aboriginal Australians for the creation of bark canoes, shelters, weapons such as shields), Aboriginal canoe tree, River Murray, Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 21 January 1931 |
In the Mid Murray region, Edward John Eyre (1845) describes an Aboriginal story about four individuals living among the clouds, a man named Noreele and his three male children who had no mother. Noreele is all-powerful and benevolent and created the landscape and everything in it, giving names and languages to various Aboriginal groups. Noreele brought Aboriginal people from "some place over the waters to the eastward", Eyre was told.
Aboriginal people were hunter-gatherers: they caught and collected their food by hunting animals and gathering plants. Men traditionally hunted and women
collected small reptiles, insects, grubs, seeds, and roots. This lifestyle requires complex skills and knowledge.
Major Thomas Mitchell recorded the Aboriginal name of the Murray River was "Millewah" in the 1830s.
1830s
Captain Charles Sturt's passed through the region on January 30th, 1830, during his exploration of the Murray River. His first journey, accompanied by Hamilton Hume , was to discover the length of the Murray River was in 1828.
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| Charles Sturt, a British officer and explorer of Australia (28 April 1795 – 16 June 1869), by John Michael Crossland |
Travelling on the Murray River on a 25 foot whaleboat, Aboriginal people in war-paint, carrying spears and shields, swam around the boat. Sturt landed, sat down and held out a
tree branch of peace, and for the time being, the party was allowed to continue.
A time of anxiety occurred when the Murray turned south, flowing past Renmark and Berri to Loxton, and then, resumed in the north-westerly direction past Waikerie. However, the approach to the sea was assured after, "Suddenly the river turned to the S.E. and gradually came round to E.N.E. then held on due south course". Sturt's diary was published in London in 1833.
Charles Sturt also employed Aboriginal envoys during the exploration of the Murray-Darling.
Murray River Aboriginal people suffered from smallpox in 1830. Influenza and measles also had devastating impacts on Aboriginal people who had been genetically and culturally isolated for 50,000 years. Aboriginal culture and
social structure were severely impacted.
South Australia Act 1834 and Foundation Act 1834, made provision for colonisation, government, and the funding of the new settlements. About 40 Aboriginal groups are living on these lands with distinctive languages, within defined borders.
1840s
The rainfall of the region was quite low, and the soils sandy. European settlement modified landscapes with agriculture, stock aninals and urban development and put intense pressure on Aboriginal land use. Ration depots set up from 1841.
1850s
The first steamer on the Murray,
Mary Ann, in 1853, traded goods as it travelled along the river.
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| Captain Randall and the boiler of the Mary Ann in 1905,. First steamer on the Murray River in 1853. Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954) |
1870s
The area around Loxton was a pastoral lease station called Bookpurnong.
Bookpurnong Station boundary rider William Charles Loxton lived in a hut on the Murray River from 1878 to 1881.
The area at this time was known as Loxton's Hut.
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Loxton's Hut, SA, in 1890, SLSA
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1890s
A.B. Murray held the lease on Bookpurnong until the government cancelled the lease to develop the land for wheat farming in 1891.
In 1894 a settlement was established at nearby Pyap and farmers, mostly of German descent, began settling in the district.
Some of
the important farming families were the Thiele, Drabsch, Habel, Kaesler, Quast and Stasinowski families.
"The pioneering days of Loxton were fraught with much struggling and privation on the part of the early settlers, the majority of whom were of German nationality. Fertilizers were at that time practically unknown, a reticulation scheme had not been formulated, transport facilities were poor, and agricultural implements were certainly crude." (
2.)
1900s
A provisional school opened in 1902.
In 1907 the government surveyed a town and offered town blocks for sale.
Loxton became an important service centre for the Murray Mallee wheat farmers.
Concordia Lutheran Church opened in 1901 and St. Petri’s Lutheran Church in 1904.
Loxton Hut School opened in 1902 and closed in 1909.
The “Etona”, a paddle steamer built at Milang of West Australian jarrah, had a chapel that was used as a “floating church” for Anglican services.
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| Typical Homestead, on the Murray, SA, Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), Saturday 14 December 1907 |
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| Mr Thiele's home near Loxton Hut, SA, Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), Saturday 14 December 1907 |
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| Getting in the wheat crop near Loxton, SA, Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), Saturday 14 December 1907 |
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| Fisherman's camp at Loxton, SA, Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), Saturday 14 December 1907 |
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| The remains of Loxton's Hut, SA, Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), Saturday 14 December 1907 |
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| Scholars attending the Loxton School, River Murray • Mr. H. T. Eime. Master. Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), Saturday 14 December 1907 |
The Loxton Hotel opened in 1908
.The Institute opens in 1909.
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| Loxton Institute as it appeared on opening day before the facade was added in 1912, SA |
The Loxton Experimental Farm was purchased in 1908. The manager at the Loxton Experimental Farm was J. G. Schulz. Before this, the "....area had been condemned as useless country —the happy hunting ground of the dingo and the abode of millions of rabbits". "It has been considered, too, that this is a very dry district". (
1.)
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| THE SETTLEMENT OF LOXTON ON THE MURRAY, S.S. Ellen towing a heavily Wool laden Barge Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), Saturday 12 September 1908 |
Historic sandstone villa, The Pines, was built in 1909.
The first Show is reported in the Register, 6 October 1911.
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| East Terrace, Loxton, SA, Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), Saturday 14 October 1911 |
The Horse Mono-Railway operating on the property of the Loxton Farming Co. in 1911.
A flour mill opened in Loxton in 1912.
Whale fossils are found in the area in 1912.
Pioneering Midwife Ernstine Pauline Milich helped deliver more than 200 babies in the Loxton
area, including 14 of her own. She even gave birth to her youngest while delivering someone else's child. She arrived at Pyap in 1902.
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| THE GOVERNOR AT THE LOXTONSHOW. SA, Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Saturday 11 October 1913 |
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| MAKING HISTORY AT LOXTON, SA : OPENING LAST WEEK OF RAILWAY, WATERWORKS, AND POST OFFICE. Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), Saturday 21 February 1914 |
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| The Loxton Hotel building on East Terrace in Loxton, SA, in 1909. |
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| Loxton Institute 1912. Now the Council offices, SA |
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| Two men standing on a horse drawn rail cart near Loxton, South Australia. 1913. SLSA |
The first stage of the Brown's Well railway line opened from Tailem Bend to Wanbi on 6 January 1913. A branch from Alawoona to Loxton opened on 13 February 1914. The river trade collapsed.
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| Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 - 1929), Thursday 5 November 1914 |
Loxton School opened in 1914 but the Lutherans had their own school.
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| The paddlesteamer 'Ruby' on the River Murray at Loxton, photographed 8 April 1917. SLSA The first irrigation area established near Loxton in 1918. |
1920s
An Anglican church was built in Loxton in 1920.
A second flour mill opened in 1924
The Loxton Clarion, the local newspaper, was established in June, 1925, by Mr. J. C. Irving.
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| Loxton, SA, showing horses and buggies, circa 1925 |
The Swan Reach Mission was established by the United Aborigines Mission [UAM] at Swan Reach in 1926. In 1946, the UAM opened the Gerard Mission near Loxton, and the Swan Reach residents were transferred to the new Mission.
The Murray River at Loxton was known to be a difficult stretch to navigate, even after the weirs were completed
in the late 1920s. When water levels were low, steamers often scraped "the gravel". There are six locks in the Riverland.
Loxton's first newspaper, The Clarion, began printing in 1925.
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| THE LOXTON DISTRICT HOSPITAL. Laying the foundation stone, SA, Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Saturday 14 August 1926 |
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| Mr W Loxton, Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 - 1929), Monday 6 December 1926 |
The current St Peter's Church was completed in 1926.
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| Dick ROEHR, The mighty, large-hearted blacksmith, of Loxton, SA, having a round with his sparring partner, "Jim," the boxing kangaroo. Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), Saturday 6 November 1926 |
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| When the editor of The Pioneer first visited Loxton's Hut (as it was then called), more than 20 years ago, he was deeply impressed by the fact that though there was neither a store nor a "pub" in the district there were two Lutheran Churches in the embryo town - monuments to the piety and Strong religious sense of the early settlers who were pioneering' a new agricultural province in what had hitherto been regarded as wilderness, of little value, even for sh?ep. One of these churches-already in those early days a substantial stone building-which have served for so long-the religious needs of the Germanic section of the community has now been replaced by the splendid and costly structure depicted in theabove illustration, which was dedicated for worship last SundayMurray Pioneer and Australian River Record (Renmark, SA : 1913 - 1942), Friday 12 March 1926 |
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Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), Saturday 6 November 1926
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| WATER TOWER AT LOXTON, from which the water, after having been pumped from the river, runs by gravitation almost to the Victorian border. Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), Saturday 6 November 1926 |
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| Mr. Elliott Frederick Pflaum, the popular president of the Society, a position which he has occupied since 1922. He was born at Birdwood in 1892, and was educated at Prince Alfred College. He served with tlie A.I.F. for four years, with the Light Horse and Flying Corps. He has lived at Loxton since 1911, Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Saturday 16 October 1926 |
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| Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 - 1929), Tuesday 22 March 1927 |
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| LOXTON DISTRICT BRASS BAND, SOUTH AUSTRALIA - 1927, Aussie~mobs |
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Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 - 1929), Tuesday 22 March 1927
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| FERN LEAVES.— The work of RiverMurray natives, SA. Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 - 1954), Saturday 9 March 1929 |
1930s |
| LOXTON, SA. C.1930. GROUP PORTRAIT OF MEMBERS OF THE MURRAY RIVER FLYING SCHOOL (MURIFLOX), LOXTON, WITH A GLIDER. OFFICE HOLDERS OF THE SCHOOL WERE C. W. J. HOFFMAN (PRESIDENT), PASTOR J. MEIER (PATRON), C. W. J. HOFFMANN (CHAIRMAN), H. E. MEIER (SECRETARY), F. KRAEGER (TREASURER). THE OFFICE BEARERS REFLECT A STRONG GERMAN-AUSTRALIAN INTEREST IN GLIDING, A SPORT MADE POPULAR IN PARTS OF EUROPE DURING THE LATE 1920'S, EARLY 1930'S. THE PHOTOGRAPH IS AMONGST PAPERS CONFISCATED AT THE OUTBREAK OF WAR IN 1939. (ORIGINAL HOUSED IN AWM PRIVATE RECORDS COLLECTION AT P00107) (DONOR COMMONWEALTH POLICE FORCE, ATTORNEY GENERAL'S DEPARTMENT, ADELAIDE) AWM |
Daisy May Bates (1863-1951), welfare worker among Aboriginal people and anthropologist, lived in a tent at Pyap on the River Murray from 1936-40.
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| WITH COUNCIL MEMBERS AT THE HOSPITAL Loxton, SA, Murray Pioneer and Australian River Record (Renmark, SA : 1913 - 1942), Thursday 13 October 1932 |
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| Murray Pioneer (Renmark, SA : 1942 - 1950) |
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| Jimmy James- (Aboriginal tracker) in the Loxton area, SA, Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 - 1954), Saturday 30 December 1939 |
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| Loxton Soldiers Memorial, SA, nd, The History Trust of South Australian |
1940s and WWII
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| Loxton to City At Cost of 21 TRAVELLING 200 miles by car at a cost of 2/ sounds fantastic in these days of rising prices, but the Thiele brothers, of Loxton. claim to have accomplished this with a home made gas-producer unit. They are Reg and Murray Thiele. sons of Mr. R. E. Thiele, a well-known Loxton identity. The unit was designed by them and constructed in the blacksmith shop on their father's farm with the gas producer unit in stalled on a 1917Dodge buckboard. Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 - 1954), Saturday 23 November 1940 |
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| Murray Pioneer (Renmark, SA : 1942 - 1950), Thursday 16 December 1943 |
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| The flag at Loxton, SA, flew at half-mast when it was learnt that SX18150 Pte. H. W. ("Mick") Hall had been killed in action In New Guinea, Murray Pioneer (Renmark, SA : 1942 - 1950), Thursday 14 January 1943 |
 AT GERARD, NEAR LOXTON A mission station where aborigines will be trained so that they will be able to take their place alongside Europeans is quickly taking shape at Gerard, on the RiverNews (Adelaide, SA : 1923 - 1954), Tuesday 12 March 1946 |
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| Loxton District Hospital is a well-equipped building, with 40 beds. Smith's Weekly (Sydney, NSW : 1919 - 1950), Saturday 4 October 1947 |
The Department of Agriculture, operated in Loxton since 1947, when a Stock Inspector (Mr Rhys Roberts) transferred to Loxton to assist with the Pleura-Pneumonia Eradication Program.
The South Australian government established the War Service Land Settlement Scheme, giving small parcels of irrigated
land in the Loxton area to returned servicemen.
Nissen huts of corrugated iron, were used for temporary housing for the new settlers.
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| Nissen huts for soldier settlers at Loxton, SA, Murray Pioneer (Renmark, SA : 1942 - 1950), Thursday 16 September 1948 |
The establishment of the Loxton War Service Land Settlement Scheme at Loxton in 1948.
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| Murray Pioneer (Renmark, SA : 1942 - 1950), Thursday 22 September 1949 |
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| Mr and Mrs W Loxton, Murray Pioneer (Renmark, SA : 1942 - 1950), Thursday 22 September 1949 |
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| Murray Pioneer (Renmark, SA : 1942 - 1950), Thursday 22 September 1949, |
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| Opening of Loxton Irrigation Showing Underground Pipe, SA, 1949, The History Trust of South Australian |
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| Loxton, Newest Irrigation Settlement, Has Big Future, SA, (1). The Main Street of Loxton, SA. (2) THE Committee of Loxton's Bowling Club. From left: Messrs. S. Fisher, T. N. Crase, Bill Langsford (Secretary), A. L. Wutke (President Upper Murray Bowling Association), W.Schick (President Loxton Bowling Club), E. H. Polden, J. Bock and A. C. (#.). MEMBERS of the Loxton District Council. From left (back row) : Councillors F. H. Rohrlach, E. W. Schick and J. L. WeatheralL Centre row: Mr. D. H. Crocker (District Clerk),Councillors A. B. Mitchell, H. G. I. Edwards, W. B. Nairn and H. G. Flavel (Overseer). Front row: Councillors W. A. Traeger, C. Gordon, Miss S. E. Pontt (Assistant Clerk), Mr.C. E. M. Tonkin (Chairman) and Councillor E. A. Rollbusch.Hameister.Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 1 December 1949 |
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| Drying sultanas at Loxton, South Australia - 1949, Aussie~mobs |
1950s
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| Loxton Milling Company's Flour Mill, Loxton, SA, Murray Pioneer (Renmark, SA : 1942 - 1950), Thursday 5 October 1950 |
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| News (Adelaide, SA : 1923 - 1954), Wednesday 24 June 1953 |
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| News (Adelaide, SA : 1923 - 1954), Wednesday 24 June 1953 |
Terrible 1956 flood. The 1956 Murray River Flood exhibition can be seen at the Loxton Historical Village.
Loxton Area High School opened in 1959.
There was an influx of soldier settlers and their families in the early 1950s.
1970s
The local branch of the National Trust wanted to replicate the town's first building, "Loxton's Hut", home to William Charles Loxton from 1878 to 1881 and this led to the establishment of Loxton Historical Village.
The Village
transports the visitor back to the late 1890s.
The village is made up of 45 buildings fully furnished to reflect the early settler years.
Some of the buildings have been moved from their original location to the village for display while others have been reconstructed from local materials - for example, the Cellar was built using stone from the original Loxton Hospital.
1980s
Christmas Wonderland at 14 Fairweather avenue Loxton began in 1985. Starts every year on the last Saturday in November.
1990s
In 1991, due to a large influx of visitors during the festive time, a "Loxton Christmas Lights " was formed.
The main line to Alawoona and the only remaining branch to Loxton closed on 6 January 1996 to be converted from broad gauge to standard gauge, to retain
connection to the main line from Adelaide to Melbourne.
2000s
2001: Nippy's Loxton Gift Carnival. The Carnival is a professional handicapped running event open to people from the age of 11 and up of all abilities.
Loxton Pedal Prix is a competition where teams of up to 12 students race 3 wheeled recumbent trikes against students from other schools. The inclusion of an inaugural race on the streets of Loxton in 2014, as part of the Super Series.
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| Loxton Pedal Prix, Loxton, SA, 2014 |
2015
The rail line closed after the last grain train left the silos on 20 June 2015.
Around Loxton
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| Pressed tin store, at Loxton, SA, was premises of J.S Reiner photographer |
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| The Pines, Loxton, SA, built in 1909, this beautifully preserved historic sandstone villa was bequeathed to the people of Loxton in 2002 by Mrs. Ella Kingdon |
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| Loxton, SA. Former State Bank fo SA. Built in 1920s in classical style |
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| Loxton Institute opened in 1909 and a new facade was added in 1912, Loxton, SA |
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| The Loxton Hotel, SA, was established in 1908. Loxton Hotel is owned by the community of Loxton and rofits from hotel operations are channelled back into the community to support local charities, groups, bodies and associations |
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| Jimmy James OAM (1913–91) was an Aboriginal Australian and member of the Pitjantjatjara people, who was best known as an Aboriginal tracker who helped South Australian Police in tracking criminals over a forty-year period.Born near Ernabella (now Pukatja) in central Australia to his parents, Warlawurru and Kaarnka, he spent his late childhood at the Ooldea Mission.He left the area in 1945, after being wrongfully arrested, and headed to the South Australian Riverland, where he assisted in the establishment of the Gerard Mission. It was there that he married Lilian Disher in 1947. In 1948, James began his career as a tracker for police and landowners, and gained much of his reputation tracking criminals (including arsonists, poachers and escapees) and lost persons. His successes including tracking escapee James Smith and finding Wendy Pfeiffer (who was nine years old at the time) after she was abducted near Mylor.Jimmy James was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 1984 and the inaugural South Australian Aboriginal Person of the Year in 1983, and he was given a gold medallion by the family of Wendy Pfeiffer. After his death, a memorial to Jimmy James was erected in Berri, South Australia. There are 20.10 km (12.49 miles) from Loxton to Berri in north direction |
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| The Loxton, SA, rotunda was built in honour of the local soldiers who lost their lives in World Wars I and II |
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| Cruising the Murray River, SA |
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| MILICH'S LANDING AND DAISY BATES RESERVE, near Loxton, at Pyap, SA |
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| Graves at PIONEER LANDING DRIVE, heading towards Habel's Landing -stand gravestones marking the resting place of Elisabeth Clara Habel, who died in 1898, aged 3 years, and Barbara Thiele, who died in 1900, aged 2 years, near Loxton, SA |
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| Loxton's Tree of Knowledge, located in the John Hamilton Lions Memorial Park, SA, has all Murray flood levels recorded on it |
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| St Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church and Hall, Loxton, SA. In 1897, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Loxton was first organised by E.J.P. Kaesler before the town of Loxton was formally planned. It originally began as a ‘House Church’ meeting for worship in the houses of John Drabsch of Loxton and A Stanitzki of Bookpurnong. Pastor L Kuss from the Mannum congregation was sent up by the Synod four to six times a year to minister to the spiritual needs of the people. The church opened in 1926 |
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| Lock 4 at Loxton, SA |
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| Wreck of an "unidentified" barge, Loxton, SA |
The Loxton historical Village
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| The Loxton historical Village, SA |
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| The Loxton historical Village, SA |
Things To Do and Places To Go
The Loxton Heritage WalkSouth Australia History network
Drive Loxton, Moorook & Kingston on Murray
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AT GERARD, NEAR LOXTON A mission station where aborigines will be trained so that they will be able to take their place alongside Europeans is quickly taking shape at Gerard, on the RiverNews (Adelaide, SA : 1923 - 1954), Tuesday 12 March 1946
