Port Broughton, South Australia

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The Port Broughton hotel
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The Port Broughton hotel

Port Broughton (33°35′S 137°56′E, pop. 1465) is in South Australia on the east coast of Spencer Gulf, about 56 km south of Port Pirie.

Port Broughton was surveyed in 1871 to service the surrounding wheat and barley growers on the recommendation of Captain Henry Dale. It is on a sheltered inlet called Mundoora Arm Inlet at the extreme northern end of Yorke Peninsula. The town is named after the Broughton River (named by Edward John Eyre after William Broughton, the first Anglican bishop of Australia) which flows into the gulf a few kilometres further north.

The face of the 'T'-shaped jetty at Port Broughton
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The face of the 'T'-shaped jetty at Port Broughton

The 'T'-shaped jetty was serviced by a railway line from Mundoora, 16 km inland and uphill. The railway brought the grain down to the port. Horses were used to tow the empty wagons uphill, but they were sent downhill powered only by gravity, with a driver to operate the brakes. Ketches carried the grain from the jetty 8 kilometres out into the gulf where the larger windjammers were anchored to carry the grain back to England.

Port Broughton now supports a prawning fleet, and is a popular holiday destination so the population can double in holiday times.

Port Broughton is the seat of the District Council of Barunga West. It is in the state electoral district of Frome and the federal Division of Grey. Its postcode is 5522.

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