The Milang Railway Museum

Milang
Small township on the shores of Lake Alexandrina
Located 76 km south-east of Adelaide, Milang is a small community (permanent population of around 350 people) on the shores of Lake Alexandrina. In fact it is the only town on the shores of the lake. It is characterised by many attractive historic homes but its isolation (it is off the beaten track) has seen it remain relatively underdeveloped where the nearby town of Goolwa has developed rapidly as a day trip/holiday resort town for people from Adelaide.

Prior to European settlement the area around Milang was home to the Ngarrindjeri people (they are the same people who fought over secret women's business at Goolwa). They made bark and reed canoes and lived on the fish and the animals which came to the lake shore. It is from the Ngarrindjeri that the word 'millangk' (which was Anglicised to Milang) meaning 'place of the millin (sorcery)' comes from.

The Ngarrindjeri people were decimated by the arrival of Europeans. The combination of smallpox (which raged all the way up the Murray River) and massacres saw the numbers drop dramatically through the nineteenth century.

The first Europeans into the area were sealers who arrived in 1828. They were followed by Captain Charles Sturt who, being assigned to solve the great mystery of why so many rivers flowed westward from the Great Dividing Range (often known as the question of whether Australia had an 'inland sea'), rowed a whale boat down the Murrumbidgee in late 1829 and reached Lake Alexandrina on 9 February, 1830. He named the lake after Princess Alexandrina who later became Queen Victoria.

Following Sturt the whole area along the Murray and around Lake Alexandrina was opened up particularly by overlanders who moved sheep and cattle across the land. Sturt had hoped the lake might have access to Gulf St Vincent and it wasn't until the following year that Collet Barker sailed along the western shoreline and demonstrated that the Lake was the mouth of the Murray River.

At the time there was a feeling that a settlement should be established near the mouth of the river so that the inland could be opened up. In 1837 Colonel William Light, responding to this interest, inspected the area around the mouth of the Murray and concluded that the land was poor and the mouth of the river was probably not navigable. The following year Sturt endorsed Light's view that the mouth of the Murray could not be made safe for navigation. This led to the establishment of Adelaide on Gulf St Vincent but there was still a body of support for the utilisation of the Murray River and a number of proposals (most involving safer harbours and moving goods overland to points further up the river) were suggested.

It was in the wake of these suggestions that Milang came into existence. It was founded in 1856 as an important and vital river port servicing both the paddlesteamers which plied the Murray River from Goolwa to the upper reaches of the river and the ferries which regularly crossed Lake Alexandrina. For some time Milang competed with Goolwa for the lucrative Murray River trade.

In the early years farmers moving into the area tried virtually anything and everything. Sheep were grazed, vegetables grown, grain crops, vineyards, cattle and fruit trees were all tried. The soil was not particularly good and it wasn't until the advent of superphosphate and mallee scrub clearance that the area reached its full economic potential.

At its height Milang was a port where goods were unloaded onto bullock drays which made the slow (usually about 9 miles a day) journey across the Mount Lofty Ranges to Adelaide. At the same time the town was known as a ship building centre with a number of paddlesteamers being launched from its yards.

The town's heyday was from the mid-1850s through to the 1880s. It was during this time that the churches, the police station and most of the important public buildings were constructed. The town was visited in 1867 by the Duke of Edinburgh, the son of Queen Victoria, who went on a shooting expedition on Lake Alexandrina and planted a willow tree (which is still standing) near the present site of the town's bowling club.

Today Milang is a delightful holiday resort on the water's edge. It is an ideal destination for campers and caravanners. The reed-edged lake is an ideal retreat for people who want to escape from the more busy holiday destinations.

Each Australia Day Milang hosts one of the largest fresh water sailing races which is held on Lake Alexandrina. The sailing boats sail from Milang to Goolwa.

Things to see:  

Pier Hotel
One of the few remaining hotels from the time when Milang was a bustling port. This is a fine example of a 19th century pub.

Historic Willow Tree
Located in Luard Street. The town was visited in 1867 by the Duke of Edinburgh, the son of Queen Victoria, who went on a shooting expedition on Lake Alexandrina and planted a willow tree (which is still standing) near the present site of the town's bowling club.

Historic Churches
The Church of Christ was built in 1857 only a year after the establishment of the town. The Congregational Church was completed in 1872.

Police Station
Milang's Police Station dates from 1874 when the town was an active port. At this time more than half of all the exports up the Murray River were passing through Milang.

	Motels
	Motel Sawasdee 5 Daranda Tce P.O. Box 107 Milang SA 5256 Telephone: (08) 8537 0090 Rating: ***
	Hotels
	Pier Hotel Daranda Tce Milang SA 5256 Telephone: (08) 8537 0006
	Cottages & Cabins
	Milang Lakeside Caravan Park Lake Alexandrina P.O. Box 69 Milang SA 5256 Telephone: (08) 8537 0282 Facsimile: (08) 8537 0296 Rating: ***
	Caravan Parks
	Clayton Bay Caravan Park 123 Island View Dve Clayton Bay Milang SA 5256 Telephone: (08) 8537 0372 Facsimile: (08) 8537 0372 Rating: *
	Milang Lakeside Caravan Park Lake Alexandrina P.O. Box 69 Milang SA 5256 Telephone: (08) 8537 0282 Facsimile: (08) 8537 0296 Rating: **
	Restaurants
	Sails at Clayton Clayton Bay via Milang SA 5256 Telephone: (08) 8537 0177