SAPort & river
Port Noarlunga
A sheltering reef gave southern wheat farmers a port before it gave Adelaide a beach.
1856Legal wharf appointed at the Port of Noarlunga
WHAT STARTED IT
A long reef runs parallel to the shore just off the mouth of the Onkaparinga, sheltering the water behind it. The river mouth was barred, so a government jetty was built inside the reef and linked by a tramway through the sandhills to a wharf on the river, giving the farms of Noarlunga and Aldinga an outlet.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
The jetty, tunnel and tramway were in use by 1856, when the Port of Noarlunga was given a legal wharf, and the government town was first offered for sale in 1859. As grain shipping faded the reef, river and beaches drew holidaymakers, and a new jetty was opened by the Governor before 2,000 people in December 1921.
TURNING POINTS
1856An order appoints a legal wharf at the Port of Noarlunga, served by the new jetty, tunnel and tramway.
1859The government town of Port Noarlunga, surveyed in 1856, is first offered for sale on 14 April.
1898The Register promotes Port Noarlunga as a summer resort.
1921A new Marine Board jetty, replacing one wrecked by a storm, is opened by the Governor on 10 December.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A coastal suburb in Adelaide’s south, still focused on its jetty, the reef and the Onkaparinga estuary. Anglers and swimmers have long since replaced the grain boats.