Murray Bridge - Round House
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FLIPPER&CO
S 35° 06.992 E 139° 16.705
54H E 343117 N 6112677
Historical plaque at The Round House in Murray Bridge
Waymark Code: WM9948
Location: South Australia, Australia
Date Posted: 07/16/2010
Views: 26
It is South Australia's biggest river town and it almost didn't happen. But then it gained the Bridge that built it, and then another, and became the rural and river city of Murray Bridge. About 80 kilometres from Adelaide, the mighty Murray dominates its past and beautifies its present.
The Ngaralta aboriginal clan saw Captain Charles Sturt and his whaleboat crew camp on what's now the Sturt Reserve in February 1830. In less than a decade, the first colonists were camped by the Torrens River, and overlanders had forded a mob of cattle across the Murray about here. As the first white family built on the bank, it became known as Edwards' Crossing.
Along the river, above the first bridge, the town's first stone building has been restored. The "round house" (it's actually multi-sided) was built in 1874 for the bridge construction engineer. In Bridge Street, there's a nice feel of a place that was a major river port and rail workshops centre. The town hall is early twentieth century, but the railway station greeted its first Melbourne Express when the line first crossed the river in 1886.
In the 1860's a parliamentary committee juggled rival claims for the first river bridge, and the Edward's Crossing won the day, because is scored a quote half that of Wellington. The key eventually was the rail link to Murray Bridge and beyond to Melbourne, and the bridge was constructed to take trains and horses and carts. A second bridge took the rail traffic from 1925.
Age/Event Date: 1873 - 1879
Type of Historic Marker: If other (please specify)
Type of Historic Marker if other: Building & Plaque
Historic Resources.:
Related Website: Not listed
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