Historical Australian Towns: Port Lincoln, SA: Explore the Eyre Peninsula

Port Lincoln is located on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, 655 kilometres north-west of Adelaide.

Situated on Boston Bay, Port Lincoln has a natural harbour that is three times the size of Sydney Harbour.

The Barngarla, formerly known as Parnkalla Aboriginal People

The Barngarla, formerly known as Parnkalla, are the traditional owners of much of Eyre Peninsula, South Australia. The Parnkalla name for Port Lincoln was Galinyala.

The following excepts are taken from THE ABORIGINAL TRIBES OF PORT LINCOLN.
The Native Tribes of South Australia by James Dominick Woods, George Taplin. Publication date 1879. It can be read here but some parts may be found offensive today.

The dress of the Port Lincoln natives consists simply of one or two kangaroo skins, and but rarely of rugs made of wallaby, opossum, or other furs, the preparation of which is performed in the following simple way: — As soon as the skin is taken from the animal it is firmly stretched on a level spot of ground by means of pegs inserted round the edge, the flesh side being upwards; when it is dry all fleshy substances that adhere to the skin are gently pulled or shaved off with a sharp-edged piece of quartz, it is then rubbed with the rough surface of an ironstone, which makes it both soft and pliable. The skins are then sewn together with the sinews from a kangaroo's tail, holes for this purpose being made with a thin pointed bone. Some of the rugs thus constructed are well enough, but upon the whole they are neiiher so large nor so well made as those worn by the Adelaide tribe.

Aboriginal family
The cosmetics used by the Aborigines of this district are of different sorts; the one most esteemed and universally applied by both sexes is grease. If they have an abundance of it, they will anoint the whole body, but in times of scarcity they confine themselves to the face. I have no doubt that they derive considerable comfort from this practice, particularly in hot weather, as I have often seen them beg very earnestly for a piece of fat, and as often heard them compare the custoAi to the washing of white men. The paints they employ in setting off the beauty of their persons are three, namely, black, white, and red. The first and last of these are obtained from places far to the north, and consist of a soft kind of stone, of which they scrape some powder, and rub it on their previously greased faces, arms, and breasts, when the paint, particularly the black, assumes a shining and metallic hue. As a substitute for the black paint, the cinders of a burnt grass-tree are sometimes used, which produce a deep black but much duller colour than the metallic paint. The whit« paint is a soft kind of chalk or pipeclay, and is only applied on particular occasions, such as dancing and mourning.

By GEORGE FRENCH ANGAS, BEING AN ARTIST'S IMPRESSIONS OF COUNTRIES AND PEOPLE AT THE ANTIPODES. 1847

The weapons of the Port Lincoln tribes are rather clumsily made, but yet fully as efficacious as those of the Adelaide natives. Their spears are made of thin gum-scrub saplings, sevei^ or more feet long, and are straightened in hot ashes. The root end, which is about as thick as a man s thumb, is pointed, being previously hardened in the fire, and at the taper end a small hole is bored by means of a sharp kangaroo bone, into which the catch of the wommara is hooked in throwing the spear. To prevent the edge of the hole splitting or breaking away, a thin kangaroo sinew is iirmly tied round it Of the bimdle of spears that each man carries about with him, two or three are generally barbed, and for those that are not they have ready-made barbs in their knapsacks, to be fixed to the spears when required.

The most singular implement in use with the Port Lincoln tribes — and peculiar to them, I believe, as I have not met with a notice of it anywhere else — is the yuta, a large piece of bark about four feet long, eight to ten inches wide, and presenting the form of an open round waterspout; its use is to clean the grubs of a large species of ant. When an ant-hill is opened it will be found to contain, among a mass of rubbish and innumerable small red insects, here and there a large white grub. These are the only ones fit for eating, but as it would be tedious to pick them out with the hand the natives put as much of the whole mass into the yuta as it will hold, and commence throwing it up and catching it again, holding the jruta all the time in a position slightly deviating from the horizontal.

A detail of a 19th-century engraving entitled Native Encampment by Skinner Prout depicting Indigenous Australians in a wurley. wurley (plural wurleys). (chiefly South Australia) An Australian indigenous shelter made from small branches with the leaves still attached.

The only root known to me as eaten in a raw state is that of the grass-tree, which grows in great abundance on the barren hills and plains of Port Lincoln, and is consumed by the natives in prodigious quantities at different seasons of the year.

There are in the Port Lincoln district many isolated wells and holes in rocks containing water; while, for thirty or mon miles round, there may not be a drop to be found; so that the natives are compelled to resort to the same camp so long as they remain in the neighbourhood.

The Aborigines of this portion of the province are divided into two distinct classes, viz., the Mattiri, and Karraru people. This division seems to have remained among them from time immemorial, and has for its object the regulation of marriages; none being allowed within either of these classes, but only between the two; so that if a husband be Mattiri, his wife must be Karraru, and vice versa.

The Barngarla practised both circumcision and subincision.

Eyre Peninsula’s dryness kept the Barngarla people constantly on the move.

1800s

Port Lincoln was charted by Matthew Flinders in 1802. He later named Port Lincoln after his home of Lincolnshire in England.

Trim, the cat, accompanied Matthew Flinders on his voyages to circumnavigate and map the coastline of Australia in 1801–1803.

Statue of Trim with Matthew Flinders, in Donington, Lincolnshire, Flinders' birthplace

A French expedition commanded by Nicolas Baudin entered the same port and named it Port Champagny a few moths later.

Before British colonisation, the Barngarla were under pressure from the Kokatha people who were migrating towards to southeast.

PORT LINCOLN. From the drawing by W. Westall, A.R.A., in Flinders' " Terra Australis," published in 1812.

1820s

French whaling ships were fishing in the area from the 1820s to 1840s.

1830s

In 1836, Port Lincoln was suggested as a possible Capital of South Australia by Governor John Hindmarsh. However, the investigations carried out by Surveyor General Colonel William Light soon revealed the lack of water in the area. Adelaide was selected instead.

In 1837 a whaling station was established in Sleaford Bay, but the shore based station quickly became unprofitable and was abandoned in 1841.

The first settlers, numbering about 120, arrived in March 1839, and building began in an area called Happy Valley and at Kirton Point.

Fishery Bay whaling station on Eyre Peninsula, about 32 kilometres (20 mi) south-west of Port Lincoln, operated in the 1830s-40s.

Port Lincoln was proclaimed a port on 27 June 1839.

Edward John Eyre explored the peninsula in 1839.

The Eyre Peninsula was a violent frontier between Aboriginal people and settlers, over the limited resources, especially from 1839 to 1842. Police often punished guilty and innocent Aboriginal alike.

The Uley graphite mine 23km south-west of Port Lincoln was first discovered in the early 1800s.

The first settlers arrived on 19 March 1839 aboard the ships Abeona, Porter and Dorset. (Captain Hawson on his ship, the Abeona, Captain Porter’s ship, the Porter and Captain Bishop’s ship, the Dorset)

Henry Hawson, wife and family, including eldest son Captain Henry Cowell Hawson and his family, finally arrived at Port Lincoln in 1839 on the schooner 'Abeon', firstly via Sydney, New South Wales, and then arriving at Port Adelaide in 1837. The 'Abeona' carried with her a large cargo of cedar wood which was used in the construction of their first home at Kirton Point, where they took up 6000 hectares including 'Polda' station, Little Swamp, and the 'Towalla' homestead within the site of Port Lincoln. Henry Hawson also acted as Harbor and Port Master. He died on the 25th July 1849 at Port Lincoln, SA, when the pony cart he was driving overturned upon him. He is buried there in the Pioneer Cemetery. [Information supplied by a descendant.] SLSA

See other early settlers here

historic home of the Hawson family at Little Swamp, Port Lincoln, SA

1840s

The population of Port Lincoln was 270, with thirty stone houses having been built by 1840, and there were 3500 sheep and 120 cattle.

Lutheran missionary, Clamor Wilhelm Schurmann, arrived on the Eyre Peninsula in 1840. The diary of Schurmann, written in 1844, is the source for over 2,500 Barngarla words.

Schurmann diligently strove to improve the social, economic, and educational situation for Aboriginal people during European settlement. Some of his observations can be read here

There was vigorous Aboriginal resistance to settlers, and Mounted Police were sent to the area. Native Police were also later sent to the area.

In April 1842, three settlers were murdered by Aboriginal people. Schurmann Wrote:

"The natives maintain that Mr Brown’s and Mr Biddle’s Station murders were by an inland tribe."

In 1843 Schürmann establsihed a farm on six acres about 4 kilometres south of Port Lincoln which he employed Barngarla men, using government rations as payment. Schürmann wanted to demonstrate the capability of the Barngarla people, but tribal obligations, the burning of fences, and crop loss to fire, were some of the problems encountered. Repeated seasonal burning of his fences forced him to give up in 1845.

George French Angas, an English explorer, naturalist, painter and poet, travelled to Port Lincoln in 1846, and painted some of the earliest views of South Australia and its people.

Tyilkilli: a young man of the Parnkallah tribe, Port Lincoln; Mintala a man at Coffins Bay 1846-47 from South Australia. Illustrated by George French Angas (London: Thomas McLean. 1846-7)

The Tennant (1846 ) and Mortlock (1847) families acquired land on the peninsula and developed pastoral properties.

The Old Mill in Dorset Place was built in 1846.

The Old Mill in Dorset Place was built in 1846, Port Lincoln, SA

The Pier Hotel was first licensed in 1847 to James Owen.

The following newspaper excerpts from August 1849, indicate the violence that existed between Aboriginal people, and settlers, at this time.

South Australian Gazette and Mining Journal (Adelaide, SA : 1847 - 1852), Saturday 18 August 1849

In 1849, Schürmann started a school in the Barngarla language at Wallala, 12 kilometres north of Port Lincoln.

Port Lincoln Copper Mine, Tumby Bay, Eyre Peninsula, was originally mined in 1849, but was disrupted by the Victorian gold rush.

1850s

St Thomas' Anglican Church was built in 1850.

An Aboriginal mission was established at Poonindie north of Port Lincoln.

The government built the first jetty in 1854. The town’s business district develops around this area.

A steamer service operated, connecting Port Lincoln with Adelaide.

South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900), Saturday 17 February 1855

A Draft list of Aboriginal women who were taken by sealers into Bass Strait waters includes some women taken from Port Lincoln in the 1850s. See here

Adelaide Observer (SA : 1843 - 1904), Saturday 31 May 1856

Ravendale House was built in 1857 for the first Government Resident in Port Lincoln.

1860s

Ration depots are located at Port Lincoln.

A group of men pose on a wagon drawn by a four horse team standing in front of the Port Lincoln Hotel, SA, a two storey building with verandahs and a shingle roof. Other people are standing on the verandah. This hotel was probably located on King Street at this time. (It was relocated to Tasman Terrace c. 1885.) [On back of photograph] 'Port Lincoln Hotel /Approximately 1860, SLSA

View of the south of Port Lincoln, SA, from the beach, showing the Methodist Church and the Bell Ringer's Cottage. c1867 SLSA

1870s

Express and Telegraph (Adelaide, SA : 1867 - 1922), Tuesday 26 April 1870

Port Lincoln, SA, 1870, SLSA

The Pier Hotel, Port Lincoln, SA, around 1875

Preservation of Port Lincoln daguerreotypes, SA, (Aboriginal man) no date, South Australian History Network

1880s

The District Council of Port Lincoln was formed in July 1880.

Full length portrait of Captain John Bishop of Port Lincoln showing him standing and resting a hand on the back of a studio chair. He has mutton chop whiskers and is wearing a rumpled three piece suit. He arrived in Port Lincoln in 1839 in command of the 82 ton brig 'Dorset'. He took up land in Port Lincoln and Boston Island and with his family ran the township's first store. About 1880

Port Lincoln showing the Port Lincoln Hotel which was named from 1840. Previously it was known as Squatters Arms and Bricklayers' Arms. From 1885 -1892 T Provis and JH Provis were the proprietors.The photograph shows a group of men standing on the corner outside the hotel which was originally located in King Street and relocated to Tasman Terrace in 1885, SLSA

Combine harvesters revolutionised grain growing when they were first used in Australia in the 1880s. As they could reap, thresh and winnow.

1900s

'Ravendale, Port Lincoln belonging to Andrew J. Murray Esq.' [General description] This house was originally built as the private residence of the resident Magistrate of Port Lincoln and was one of the early large houses in the area. The gabled roof appears to be shingle and there is an interesting wooden trim on the verandah. On the left is the outbuilding which includes stabling. In front of the house is an untidy complex of stockyards built from timber. Three men pose for the photographer in the foreground, one of them holding a horse, Port Lincoln, SA, 1900, SLSA

Noted Aboriginals of Port Lincoln, SA, Adelaide Observer (SA : 1843 - 1904), Saturday 26 March 1904

Between 1905 and 1915, the South Australian Railways built an extensive railway network on the Eyre Peninsula.

A two cylinder "De Dion" car, the first to travel from Port Lincoln to Streaky Bay and back, standing in front of the Port Lincoln Hotel. Left - right: John Haigh, Ralph Sullivan, C.B.West (chauffeur); Mortimer Muirhead, solicitor and owner of the car, 1905, SLSA

The Port Lincoln Natives, SA, Critic (Adelaide, SA : 1897-1924), Wednesday 24 January 1906

The original Port Lincoln railway station building of timber opened in 1908. The Adelaide Steamship Company also had an office and waiting room within the station.

Port Lincoln, SA, Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), Saturday 6 June 1908

Port Lincoln Post Office and Mail, SA, Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), Saturday 6 June 1908

Old Jetty at Port Lincoln, S.A. - circa 1910, Aussie Mobs

Tasman Terrace, Port Lincoln, SA, about 1911

MEMBERS OF EYRE PENINSULA RAILWAYS COMM1S.S1OX LEAVING PORT LINCOLN, SA, ON THE FIRST STAGE OF THEIR 1000-MILE MOTOR TOUR Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Saturday 9 September 1911

Port Lincoln Boy Scouts camping at Canowie Belt. The boys are in three rows fors the photograph. Reverend Page, Baptist Minister of Port Lincoln is in charge and standing on the far right. 1912, SLSA

Photograph of Fanny who was born in Poonindie, and died in Port Lincoln in 1922. About 1912, SLSA (Fanny Agars (or Agnes) was a Barngala woman from the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia who lived from 1867 to 1922 (?). She was originally from the Lake Hamilton area 110 km north west of Port Lincoln but lived in Port Lincoln for many years, where she was very popular

The Pier Hotel at Port Lincoln is a rambling brick and stone two storey building with verandahs, situated on a corner. A Moreton Bay fig stands next to it. The publican is W.E. Wyld who held the license from 1913-1919. There has been a hotel on this site since 15-4-1847 but it was not known as the Pier Hotel until 1864. This photo 1913, SLSA

Port Lincoln Football Club, SA, Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), Saturday 5 September 1914

Australia Day Procession at Port Lincoln, SA, Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Saturday 14 August 1915

A historic carriage which once belonged to the poet Lord Byron. The carriage was purchased in England by the late Mrs. Hawson, of Lake Wangary. The vehicle is still in a fair state of preservation, and with "Black Fanny", a well known Aboriginal identity of Port Lincoln, SA, as its chief occupant (Australia Day Parade) Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Saturday 14 August 1915

WWI

LATE TIE. ERASER.

The late Pte. Robert W. Fraser, who was well known ai Miniribbi, Lake Wangary, and at Port Lincoln, wag a son of the late Mr. William Fraser, iwho for many years kept the Pier Hotel, PortLincoln. Mr. Fraser died some years ago, and since then the late soldier had been his .mother's right-liand support. When the war broke out he decided, with three other Port Lincoln "boys," that it wa6 his duty to help the motherland. After having 'been in camp at Morphettville for some time be developed pneumonia, and ra removed to the Adelaide Hospital, inhere he recovered. Deceased went to the Dardanelles and was wounded, went into hospital, and recovered. and returned to the trenches. He was killed in action on August 8.Journal (Adelaide, SA : 1912 - 1923), Saturday 23 October 1915

Studio portrait of 7517 Private (Pte) Richard Johns, 14th Battalion. Pte Johns was a labourer from Port Lincoln, South Australia, prior to enlistment and he embarked from Melbourne aboard HMAT Nestor on 30 October 1917 for Suez, Egypt en route to England. He joined his battalion on the Western Front, France in May 1918. On 4 July 1918 he was wounded in action and was subsequently evacuated to England for treatment and recuperation before returning to Melbourne for discharge on 14 March 1919. This is one of a series of photographs taken by the Darge Photographic Company which had the concession to take photographs at the Broadmeadows and Seymour army camps during the First World War. In the 1930s, the Australian War Memorial purchased the original glass negatives from Algernon Darge, along with the photographers' notebooks. The notebooks contain brief details, usually a surname or unit name, for each negative. AWM

1920s

Port Lincoln, South Australia, 1920. The house marked in the foreground is described as 'Old Government House in 1863/4'. According to a researcher, locals know this double bend in the road as "The Double Corner". The main road is called the Lincoln Highway coming into town from the north. The track to the left is now Normandy Place.

PORT LINCOLN: Aboriginal women and pet dogs outside a dwelling near Port Lincoln. About 1920, SLSA

Port Lincoln Railway Station, SA, about 1920, SLSA

Oyster cultivation at Port Lincoln, SA, Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), Saturday 10 December 1921

Wheat ships berthed at Port Lincoln jetty waiting for grain to be loaded; the 'Minnipa' and the 'Penang' are anchored at the far side with the 'Pommern' and 'L'Avenir' in the foreground. 1920, SLSA

Port Lincoln became a municipality in 1921.

Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 - 1931), Monday 23 July 1923

Brennen’s Jetty built in 1923, part of the improvements made by WA Webb, Chief Commissioner, of SA Railways.

Port Lincoln's Fine Memorial Hall and Institute Opened. SA. Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), Saturday 9 August 1924

Freezing works for Port Lincoln, SA, Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Saturday 27 September 1924

The Port Lincoln to Penong, SA, train in 1924. SLSA

Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), Saturday 21 March 1925

Port Lincoln, SA, High School, Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), Saturday 7 November 1925

The Old Port Lincoln Tribe, SA, Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Saturday 15 August 1925

The Locomotive Depot and Workshops were constructed at Port Lincoln between 1927 and 1932.

AT THE PORT LINCOLN RETURNED SOLDIERS' BALL, SA, Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), Saturday 17 September 1927

Port Lincoln, SA, Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Saturday 22 October 1927

MV "Minnipa", while it was berthed at Port Lincoln, SA, way back in 1927. Owned by the Adelaide Steamship Company, the "Minnipa" provided a twice weekly service from Adelaide to Port Lincoln, SLSA

The first aeroplane at Port Lincoln, SA, Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 25 July 1929

1930s

Anzac Day, Port Lincoln, SA, Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 5 May 1932

The Port Lincoln Carnival, SA, Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 18 February 1932

The hundered and thirtieth anniversary of the entry of Capt. Matthew Flinders into
Port Lincoln Harbor. Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 - 1954), Saturday 20 February 1932

Shipping at Port Lincoln, SA, Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 21 January 1932

TRANSPORT ON THE WEST COAST. This is the type of vehicle In which Road Service transport passengers and goods between PortLincoln and Streaky Bay. These mobile vehicles are playing an important part in opening up sparsely settled areas of the West Coast. Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 28 December 1933

1. View of Port Lincoln from Kirton Point. ' Moonta ' in the foreground,
and 'Mirrabooka' in the rear. 2. Flinders Picture Theatre. 3. Monument enclosing the remains of Frank Hawson, speared by the natives ninety-three years ago, and the 'Moonta'
passing up the harbor. 4. Police Court, dating from 1862. 5. Methodist Church. G. A glimpse of the harbor. 7. Looking towards Lincoln from Winter's Hill. 8. Section of
Tasman Terrace. 9. Old Post Office at White's Flat. 10. The ' Castle,' an early-day inn. 11. Stone marking the original grave of Frank Hawson on Kirton Point. 12. The only remaining
portion of the old gaol wall, behind which the early settlers gathered to repel the blacks. The doors on the left are police cells. 13. Sport on Boston Bay.

Port Lincoln Masonic Hall, SA, Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 6 July 1933

Port Lincoln, SA, Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 6 July 1933

Port Lincoln Methodist Church, SA, in 1933 , built in 1909, SLSA

Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 22 November 1934

OLD PORT LINCOLN LANDMARK, SA. Proper Hut, a relic of the early days, situated'on the shore of Proper Bay, near the Port Lincoln Freezing Works. Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 2 August 1934

LOADING BARLEY AT PORT LINCOLN. The motor ship ' Naiadna ' loading barley for Continental ports at Port Lincoln. She is taking the grain from trucks on the jetty, and at the same time from the ketch 'Frolic' on the other side. Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 5 September 1935

In 1936 the population was 3200.

PORT LINCOLN CENTENARY, SA. Last week Port Lincoln celebrated its centenary with two pageants associated with its foundation. The one pictured above, in the costumes of the period, is the landing of the first settlers at Happy Valley. Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 16 March 1939

PORT LINCOLN IN CARNIVAL MOOD. Last week Port Lincoln celebrated the centenary of the landing of Captain Flinders by re-enacting the scene in the costumes of the period. Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 9 March 1939

Civic hall, Port Lincoln, SA, Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 - 1954), Saturday 11 March 1939

1940s and WWII

Empire Day, Port Lincoln, SA, Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 6 June 1940

The Grand Hotel in Port Lincoln, S.A. - 1940s, Aussie~mobs

Pier Hotel at Port Lincoln, South Australia - circa 1940s, Aussie Mobs

PORT LINCOLN AGRICULTURAL OFFICES. Export lamb breeding, pig husbandry, and scientific pasture and cereal growing has moved apace on Eyre Peninsula. To accommodate the necessary staff, the Agricultural Department has made this fine addition to Port Lincoln's civic centre. Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 29 February 1940

Pte. J. R. McLaren (inf.). Port Lincoln — Wounded Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 - 1954), Saturday 26 July 1941

Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 - 1954), Saturday 14 June 1941

Port Lincoln Times (SA : 1927 - 1965; 1992 - 2002), Thursday 13 March 1941

Street view of Tasman Terrace, Port Lincoln. SA, about 1940, SLSA

Private Casualty Advice Mrs. H. L Russell, of Port Lincoln, has been notified that her son, L. Cpl. L. T. Russell, has been reported missing in Malaya. He enlisted in July, 1940, and went overseas last year. Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954), Wednesday 27 May 1942

Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954), Tuesday 18 March 1947

Known as "The Church with the Chimney" the Church of England at Poonindie, north of PortLincoln, was erected in 1850 by Bishop Matthew Hale as the first building of the Poonindie Aborigine Mission. The Mission, which was first inhabited by some twenty aborigines brought from Adelaide, was later used in part for helping natives of the local tribe, but was finally closed before 1900. The "chimney" served the loft above the church, which was both schoolroom and missioner's residence. Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 10 February 1949

1950s

New grain terminals were built at Port Lincoln in 1959. Grain from Eyre Peninsula's harvest were stored until bulk grain carriers arrived.

Port Lincoln Railway Station opened in 1908 with a timber construction building. It was replaced by a two-storey stone and reinforced concrete building in 1927. This photo is from 1950s, SLSA

Members of the Junior Red Cross Circle of the Port Lincoln Primary School show a practical way of helping by spending Saturday mornings as voluntary workers at Port Lincoln Hospital, Shown here are (fromleft) — Ruby Cloak nursing tiny Neill Bryant, and Corrine NichoIIs holding Victoria Haines. The girls help in many ways, including cleaning silverware, polishing floors and taking meals to patients. Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 11 October 1951

Port Lincoln Saleyards Opened, SA, Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 7 October 1954

The new Memorial clubrooms of the Port Lincoln sub-branch of the RSL were opened this month by
the State president' of the RSL (Mr. T. C. Eastick). After the building was opened at 2 p.m. on
October 2, it was open to the public for inspection. At 8 p.m. a buffet dinner was served for
members. ABOVE — B Coy. of the 43 /48th Battalion CMF provided a colorful spectacle as itmarched into position prior to the opening of the clubrooms. Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 28 October 1954

IN AN OPEN CAR, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh drive slowly along the main street of Port Lincoln during today's Royal Progress. Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 - 1954), Saturday 20 March 1954

Royal list, Port Lincoln, SA, 1954, State Records of SA

1960s

First diesel locomotive on Eyre Peninsula in 1962.

An "Lime Sand" mine was established in 1966, at Coffin Bay.

Poonindie Reserve is given to the Aboriginal Lands Trust, to be managed by Aboriginal people in 1966.

The railway station closed in 1968 with the cessation of passenger services.

The last steam locomotive on the Eyre Peninsula in 1969.

1970s

Port Lincoln was declared a city in 1971.

A new bridge replaced the earlier bridge over Dublin Street.

1990s

Memorial stone to be placed on unmarked aboriginal graves.

"The earliest recorded burial of an
Aboriginal in the cemetery was of a man
only known as Samuel who was buried
in 1880.
Other well known names to be included on
the memorial are King Mickey who died
in 1916, Policeman Charlie who died in
1900 and Black Fanny who died in 1922.
The most recent unmarked burial was in
1951 of Baby Saunders." Read here

The Eyre Peninsula Railway Preservation Society opened in September 1999.

2000s

2012: The Parnkalla people began trying to resurrect their language. The diary of Clamor Wilhelm Schurmann, a German missionary, written in 1844, is the source for over 2,500 words.

Visiting Poonindie, Port Lincoln, SA, 2013, South Australian History Network

2015: On 22 January 2015 the Barngarla people were granted native title over much of Eyre Peninsula.

2019: In June 2019 Port Lincoln had an estimated population of 16,418.

The main commodities grown in South Australia and shipped from Port Lincoln are: wheat, barley, canola, lentils, faba beans, field peas and lupins.

2020

Port Lincoln, SA, floods, 2020

Around Port Lincoln

Old Mill, Port Lincoln, SA (built 1846)

Ravendale House, Port Lincoln, SA, was built in 1857 and sold to a private owner by 1875. Now a Veterinary Clinic.

Mill Cottage - Flinders Park (museum), Port Lincoln, SA, old pioneer home built in 1866 for Joseph K Bishop

Boston House, Port Lincoln, SA, was built as a retirement home for Adelaide brewer Frederick Sison in 1885

Port Lincoln railway station, SA, built in 1927 (The Eyre Peninsula Railway Preservation Society opened in this building, September 1999)

Lincoln Homstead, Happy Valley Road, PORT LINCOLN, built 1859

Statue of Matthew Flinders and his cat Trim, Tasman Terrace Port Lincoln, SA

Tasman Terrace, Port Lincoln, SA

Grand Tasman Hotel, Port Lincoln, SA. The hotel was established in 1906 as the Grand Hotel, Grand Port briefly in 1921, Tasman in 1958 and Grand Tasman in 1988. Gdaypubs