History of Terowie

Once a thriving town with a population of over 2,000 people, Terowie is now little more than a ghost town with only about 150 people living here. Most of the buildings are abandoned, roofs caved in and stone walls crumbling. So little traffic comes through there that it’s safe to have the dogs off lead on the main street. So what happened?

Terowie, from an Aboriginal word meaning “hidden water,” is about 15kms south of Peterborough. In the 1870s wheat farmers arrived and in 1880 the broad gauge railway arrived from Adelaide. Because from Terowie on was a different gauge, this made Terowie Station the “break of gauge” going north and south for almost 90 years. Most of the people in the town worked on the railway.

In 1969 the broad gauge track was extended to Peterborough.  No longer a vital part of the railway industry, Terowie’s population quickly declined as many people left to find work. The Terowie Citizens Association Inc. has apparently brought and restored seven of the  buildings. In 1985 the town was declared a historic town.

 

A welcoming sign has been placed at the entrance to the old railway station.

So we stayed a night, and had apples for breakfast fresh from the tree! The dogs liked them too.

 

And for just $165,000 we could have brought the local school!