Kingoonya, South Australia
Encyclopedia
Kingoonya is a small settlement in the far north of the Australia
n state of South Australia
. It was established in the early 1900s as a railway support town on the line extending west and played a significant role in the construction of the Trans-Australian Railway
. A Kingoonya Post Office first opened around 1884, closed in 1892, reopened in 1915 after the arrival of the railway and closed again in 1982. When railway services were rationalised in the early 1990s, Kingoonya was almost abandoned. The houses in the township are only intermittently occupied by people involved in mining exploration and kangaroo shooting.
The town relied on the Tea and Sugar Train for the provision of supplies. The Indian Pacific (running between Sydney
and Perth
) and Ghan (running between Adelaide
, Alice Springs and Darwin
) trains still call at Kingoonya on request, and to do the twice-weekly mail run; both trains service the town twice a week in each direction.
The township is reputed to have the widest main street in Australia and cricket matches have been played on it.The town's hotel is still running. The town was featured on Australia Live
, a four hour broadcast on 1 January 1988 to celebrate Australia's bicentennial year.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n state of South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
. It was established in the early 1900s as a railway support town on the line extending west and played a significant role in the construction of the Trans-Australian Railway
Trans-Australian Railway
The Trans-Australian Railway crosses the Nullarbor Plain of Australia from Port Augusta in South Australia to Kalgoorlie in Western Australia...
. A Kingoonya Post Office first opened around 1884, closed in 1892, reopened in 1915 after the arrival of the railway and closed again in 1982. When railway services were rationalised in the early 1990s, Kingoonya was almost abandoned. The houses in the township are only intermittently occupied by people involved in mining exploration and kangaroo shooting.
The town relied on the Tea and Sugar Train for the provision of supplies. The Indian Pacific (running between Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
and Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
) and Ghan (running between Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
, Alice Springs and Darwin
Darwin, Northern Territory
Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...
) trains still call at Kingoonya on request, and to do the twice-weekly mail run; both trains service the town twice a week in each direction.
The township is reputed to have the widest main street in Australia and cricket matches have been played on it.The town's hotel is still running. The town was featured on Australia Live
Australia Live
Australia Live was a four hour telecast, broadcast live on Channel Nine, on 1 January 1988 to open Australia's Bicentennial celebrations. The telecast crossed live to over 70 locations right across the country to represent a 'typical' day in the life of the Australian people...
, a four hour broadcast on 1 January 1988 to celebrate Australia's bicentennial year.