Tarpeena is a town on the Riddoch Highway

Riddoch Highway

The Riddoch Highway in south-eastern South Australia branches from the Dukes Highway at Keith and travels south through Padthaway, Naracoorte, Penola, Nangwarry, Tarpeena, and Mount Gambier to Port MacDonnell and nearby Cape Northumberland....

 between Penola

Penola, South Australia

Penola is located 388 km south east of Adelaide and is in the heart of one of South Australia's most productive wine growing areas. Coonawarra lies just to the north and is renowned for the quality of its red wines...

 and Mount Gambier

Mount Gambier, South Australia

Mount Gambier is the largest regional city in South Australia located approximately 450 kilometres south of the capital Adelaide and just 17 kilometres from the Victorian border....

 in the Limestone Coast

Limestone Coast

The Limestone Coast is a name used since the early twentyfirst century for the geographical region and tourist region of the southeast coast of South Australia from the Victoria border to the towards the city of Adelaide.-Location and description:...

 region 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...

. At the 2006 census

Census in Australia

The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...

, Tarpeena had a population of 406.

The town was named by Governor MacDonnell

Richard Graves MacDonnell

Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell KCMG CB was an Anglo-Irish lawyer, judge and colonial governor...

, after the aboriginal words tart pena which means red gum tree. The town was surveyed in October 1860.

Industry

Pastoralists entered the area in the 1840s and soon established sheep station

Sheep station

A sheep station is a large property in Australia or New Zealand whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or south-west of the country. In New Zealand the Merinos are usually in the high country of the South...

s for wool. With the improvement in transport and the road system

Road

A road is a thoroughfare, route, or way on land between two places, which typically has been paved or otherwise improved to allow travel by some conveyance, including a horse, cart, or motor vehicle. Roads consist of one, or sometimes two, roadways each with one or more lanes and also any...

 Tarpeena has become largely a dormitory suburb of the provincial centre of Mount Gambier but the timber mill is still a valuable part of the infrastructure and helps the one local service station and post office remain viable with the trade generated from over 700 employees.

Governance

Tarpeena is in the District Council of Grant

District Council of Grant

The District Council of Grant is a local government area located in the Limestone Coast region of South Australia, and is the southernmost council in the state....

 local government area, the state electoral district

South Australian House of Assembly

The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide.- Overview :...

 of Mount Gambier

Electoral district of Mount Gambier

Mount Gambier is an electorate for the South Australian House of Assembly. It covers the southeast part of the state centered on the city and extinct volcano of Mount Gambier....

 and at the federal level

Australian House of Representatives

The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....

, the Division of Barker

Division of Barker

The Division of Barker is an Australian Electoral Division in the south-east of South Australia.The division was created in 1903 and is named for Collet Barker, an early explorer of the region at the mouth of the Murray River...

.