SAPlanned settlement
Stirling
A hills township sold on the promise of an English spring.
1854Township of Stirling auctioned
WHAT STARTED IT
Stirling was laid out near Crafer’s Inn, midway between Adelaide and Mount Barker, where the roads crossed the Mount Lofty Ranges. Its 1854 sale stressed a cooler climate, good garden soil, timber, springs and nearby flour and saw mills.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
The township, named after Edward Stirling, grew with gardens, jam factories and flower shows. The hills railway opened Aldgate station, then called Stirling East, in 1883.
TURNING POINTS
1854Samson, Wicksteed & Co. auction the township of Stirling near Crafer’s Inn.
1877Simeon Moss’s jam factory operates at Stirling East.
1883The railway reaches Aldgate (Stirling East) station.
1885The first Stirling Show is held.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A town in the Adelaide Hills Council area, on the old road between Adelaide and Mount Barker. Its gardens and cool-climate character still draw visitors from the plains.