The Hotel Broughton

Port Broughton
Historic wheat port now a popular holiday resort
Located 174 km north west of Adelaide, Port Broughton is one of the many small and attractive holiday destinations on the Yorke Peninsula. Its location at the top end of the peninsula ensures that it is a little drier and more arid than some of the other, southerly ports. While on one level it is a classic sleepy little holiday resort with caravan parks beside the port. It is a bit more permanent than some of the seaside towns further south on the Yorke Peninsula. Some of Port Broughton's caravan parks are very well appointed.

Prior to European settlement the area around Port Broughton was inhabited by the Narangga Aborigines whose lands spread across the entire Yorke Peninsula and included the Hummocks Range and the area lying up the coast to the head of Gulf St Vincent. They lived a simple and remarkably harmonious life sustained by the produce of the area and unaffected by competition for their lands. They remained in the area after European invasion although the last reported camp was in existence around 1897.

The first European into the area was Matthew Flinders who reached the shores of the Yorke Peninsula in 1802 as he made his way slowly around the coast of South Australia. When the explorer Edward John Eyre passed through the area in 1839 he named the local river, Broughton, after William Grant Broughton, the first Anglican Archbishop of Australia.

Land in the area was taken up by pastoralists in the early 1850s. However it was agreed that the scrubby nature of the land around Port Broughton made it unsuitable for grazing and it was relinquished in 1869 and subsequently sold off in acre lots. Subsequent settlement of the area led to a petition for the establishment of a port. The petition, signed by 97 local landholders, led to the creation of Port Broughton. The Farmers Weekly Messenger reported: 'Opening of Port Broughton on June 16 1871. On Monday morning what is promised to be a port was opened near Medora Creek about 30 miles from Wallaroo, by the arrival there of the Triumph, Dale, master ... Drays were waiting to take away the vessel's cargo, which met the boats and a raft which conveyed the loading from the vessel's side.'

The slipway and small boats at Port Broughton

The town was surveyed in October 1871 and 60 allotments were offered for sale in March 1872. This was, however, always marginal land. The farmers had a huge job clearing the land. They considered sowing 2 acres a good days work and they were constantly confronted with the shortage of water and the likelihood of drought.

The town's future lay with its port. In the beginning a small jetty was built and wheat had to be taken from the jetty out to the waiting ships. The first proper jetty was completed in 1874 at a cost of £1200. It was 1260 feet long. It was short-lived and had to be replaced. In 1876, with a railway line from Mundoora to Port Broughton having been completed, the new jetty (it still stands) was built. It was 1245 feet long, the bottom had to be dredged beside it, and it cost £3715. The jetty had a railway line running its length and it quickly became the vital link for the town as ships arrived to collect wheat and local fishermen used the jetty to fish for tommy roughs, snook, whiting and garfish.

The jetty continued to be used by ketches and windjammers until the late 1940s. They were capable of loads of 5200 tons of wheat which was taken out to the windjammers and loaded about about 12 km offshore.

Today Port Broughton is one of the popular summer holiday haunts on the shores of the Spencer Gulf. It is sustained by a mixture of fishing and tourism.

Things to see:  

Historical Museum
Located on Harvey Street between the council chambers and the fire station, this museum contains good displays recording the history of the local area. There are interesting old photographs and the usual collection of artefacts.

Cottage Museum
Located on the corner of Edmund and Harvey Streets in the old school building (1879) it is an interesting and worthwhile local museum. Contact (08) 8635 2107 for opening hours.

	Tourist Information
	Port Broughton District Council Bay St Port Broughton SA 5522 Telephone: (08) 8635 2107
	Hotels
	Port Broughton Hotel 2 Bay St Port Broughton SA 5522 Telephone: (08) 8635 2004 Rating: *
	Sunnyside Hotel Motel 17 Bay St Port Broughton SA 5522 Telephone: (08) 8635 2100 Rating: **
	Caravan Parks
	Broughton Bayside Caravan Park P.O. Box 72 Port Broughton SA 5522 Telephone: (08) 8635 2140 Rating: **
	Main Park Caravan Park 2 Barker St Port Broughton SA 5522 Telephone: (08) 8635 2188 Rating: ***
	Restaurants
	Port Broughton Hotel 2 Bay St Port Broughton SA 5522 Telephone: (08) 8635 2004
	Sunnyside Hotel/Motel 17 Bay St Port Broughton SA 5522 Telephone: (08) 8635 2100
	Cafés
	Bay Street Cafe & Antiques Bay St Port Broughton SA 5522 Telephone: (08) 8635 2552