Eurelia

Austin (Paddy), Uneata (Nat), Winnifred (Winnie), Alice, Leo and Leonard (Len) were all born in Eurelia.

When Adelaide was settled in 1846, land was split into counties, then hundreds, and released systematically over the next 80 years.  A Hundred measured 64,000 acres or approximately 100 square miles.  Each hundred was then split into smaller allotments, which were considered at the time to be sufficient to support a family farm, and larger pastoralists allotments. Most hundreds consisted of at least one town, small farms near the town and larger parcels of land near the outskirts of the hundred. The County of Dalhousie was proclaimed in 1871 and contained, among others, the Hundreds of Eurelia (1876), Mannanarie (1871), Oladdie (1876), Pekina (1871), Tarcowie (1871), Walloway (1875), Yalpara (1876) and Yongala (1871).

The Hundred of Eurelia was proclaimed on 23 March 1871, but the survey of the area was not completed until 1876, with the town of Eurelia being proclaimed 12 September 1878.

The District Council of Eurelia 1888-1894 was Proclaimed by Act 419 of 1887 and gazetted 5 January 1888.  The name was changed to the District Council of Carrieton from 1894.

Carrieton was a large town in the North of the Hundred of Eurelia, while Eurelia was in the Southern part of the Hundred.  Eurelia is located about 260 kilometres north of Adelaide and 20 kilometres from Orroroo.

The first settlers here bought up land, some with the idea of selling on to later arrivals. However, being above the Goyder Line, it soon became clear that water was the most urgent and important factor that needed attention in the district, and so the local council in 1880 petitioned the State Government to grant £1000 to construct a reservoir and take advantage of the winter rains. The land was designated Primary Production land, however, suffered significant droughts, which required expensive water boring, damming and carrying. The year 1880 was a good one for rainfall, and many settlers arrived in the general district, perhaps mistakenly thinking that the crops would always be plentiful. Unfortunately, drought and an excess of kangaroos, dingoes and rabbits was to greet the efforts at crop growing. While some persisted, others decided to farm sheep, there apparently being plenty of feed for sheep, as they can survive on saltbush and bluebush and other arid land grasses. For all this, the town grew and thrived and had a post office, hotel, railway station, school, various farms, boot maker, baker and general store.  The Peterborough-Quorn railway line ran through Eurelia, and passed the township of Carrieton. The distance from the line to the town made it difficult for people to get there and back, but provided a business opportunity for people to provide transport to passengers. The train which came through was a combination of passenger and freight train.   Silver was discovered around 1888 and the hope ran that it would be another Victorian gold fields boom, however the silver soon ran out. Many of the farmers left the town over the years and tried their luck either in the gold fields of West Australia or moved to farms in more favourable areas.

Several church denominations, including Methodists and Church of England had to travel to Yongala while the Catholics had to travel to Pekina.  They later shared the Eurelia Hall for their services. Eurelia existed as a vibrant town until the early 1940’s when the school closed down. In the early 1980’s the rail from Peterborough stopped and it became the terminus for the Steamtown Peterborough Railway preservation Society.  In 2014, 14 people were registered as being from Eurelia.