Timeline
Year | Town, people and local area | Mining |
---|---|---|
1843 | Surveyor General E.C. Frome sketches a shepherd’s hut on the Burra Burra Creek | |
1845 | Townsite chosen and first streets laid out in Kooringa | Discovery of copper and commencement of mining operations at the Burra Burra Mine |
1846 | First cottages built and a police contingent arrives | Mining begins at the Bon Accord Mine |
1847 | Kooringa Wesleyan Chapel built as the first church | |
1848 | The miners' strike was the first strike in South Australia and the first industrial strike of significance in Australia | |
1849 | Redruth and Aberdeen land auctions held | Patent Copper Co. begins smelting copper ore |
1850 | First public town meeting to discuss the proposed South Australian constitution | |
1851 | Burra’s reported population of 5,000 made it the 7th largest town in Australia and the largest inland settlement | |
1856 | Redruth Gaol completed | |
1858 | The Burra Burra Mine covers 15 acres (6.1 ha) with 8 miles (13 km) of tunnels and galleries. | |
1859 | Telegraph, post office and National Australia Bank open. Floods wipe out most of the miners' dugouts along the creek | Princess Royal Mining Company closes |
1867 | Act No. 20 passed authorising construction of railway to Burra | Underground mining ceases |
1869 | Freehold land for sale on Kooringa | Burra Burra Mine workforce reduced to 46 |
1870 | First train and rabbit plague arrive at Burra | Open cut operations begin |
1872 | Burra District Council formed. Township of New Aberdeen laid out | |
1873 | Original Unicorn Brewery established | |
1876 | Burra News and Northern Mail first printed. Proclamation of the Corporation of the Town of Burra | |
1877 | Inaugural agricultural show. Burra Hospital opened | Burra Burra Mine closes |
1883 | Present railway station building constructed, replacing a former wooden building | |
1890 | Discovery of diprotodon skeletons at Baldina Creek | |
1897 | Unsuccessful attempt to form a company to reopen mining | |
1899 | Burra slag extraction company begins operations on slagheaps | |
1901 | White Sunday – Burra’s greatest snowstorm | |
1902 | Motor vehicles appear for sale in Burra. Unicorn Brewery closed due to new Commonwealth tax laws | |
1916 | Burra Mine area (262 acres) sold for £6,000 | |
1921 | Morphett’s Engine House demolished for use as building stone | |
1922 | Prime minister Billy Hughes unveils the Burra and District Fallen Soldiers' memorial | |
1925 | Burra Electricity Supply Company switches on | |
1930 | Gold discovered at nearby Mongolata | |
1932 | Sir Charles Kingsford Smith lands in Southern Cross and takes townspeople for joyrides | |
1934 | 183-ounce gold nugget (Pexton’s nugget) found at Mongolata | |
1938 | The Council merges into the District Council of Burra Burra | |
1951 | First housing trust homes built | |
1957 | Television first displayed in the town hall | |
1961 | Burra Burra Mine area opened as a tourist resort | |
1967 | Driest year on record with 6.50 inches (165 mm) of rain | |
1970 | World record price for a Merino Ram of $27,200 from the Collinsville Stud | |
1971 | Samin Ltd begins production of copper concentrates | |
1972 | Resited Cornish chimney opened by Governor Sir Mark Oliphant | $3 Million plans for expansion announced by Samin Ltd |
1974 | Wettest year on record with 35.06 inches (891 mm) of rain | |
1979 | The Burra Charter was adopted by Australia ICOMOS in Burra | |
1980 | The film Breaker Morant was filmed in the area with Market Square featuring due to its preserved Victorian buildings | |
1981 | Work ceases at the mine. | |
1983 | Final attempt to reopen the mine | |
1985 | Rail services to Burra cease | |
1988 | Burra proclaimed Merino capital of the world. Railway line closed (now dismantled north of Burra) | |
1993 | Burra proclaimed a state heritage area | |
1997 | District Council amalgamated into the District Council of Goyder | |
2000 | Princess Royal Mine area sold to CR and SP Pty Ltd | |
2008 | A new Unicorn Brewery (microbrewery) opens for business, headquartered in Burra |
Read more about this topic: Burra, South Australia