Ghost Towns

Gerty Dancer · Guru

Ghost Towns

Duh · Guru

We went looking for a SA town where one of my grandfathers was born, it had sprung up around one the Bullock team stops where there was water available for the animals.

It was called Saltia, and was between Pt August and Quorn, just where you cross over the Pitchie Richie rail crossing.

Sadly other than a small sign and some old ground level foundations and street gutters of the pub that was there in a farmers paddock it has gone.

A local historian in Quorn was writing a history of the area which included Saltia. I believe a visit to the Quorn museum is worthwhile for some of the area's history etc.

-- Edited by Duh on Thursday 21st of March 2013 12:03:14 PM

Sol · Senior Member

Jen and I like to explore old Ghost Towns on our travels.

Does anyone know of any books or do you have any info on where some are that we can visit?

We've looked around Mt Mulligan, Kingsbourgh up here in Far Nth Qld.

Sol

Hoodathunkit · Senior Member

Check out this link it seems to list quite a few.

http://www.australiaforeveryone.com.au/places_towns_gh.htm

herbie · Guru

M y wife and myself also like to find the out of way places,one can only visit so many gorges and such before we are gorged out.But finding the not so well advertised places always bring a lot of enjoyment to us.

herbie · Guru

Some other interesting Gohst towns is down around Great Western between Ararat and Stawell.Also out around Marybrough and Talbert .Allthese places were old gold mining places.One of the places we found out the back of Great Western still has the old under ground vats and press they used to make wine from .Also an interesting place around in that area was were the china man who worked in the mines lived , it is terraced for their gardens they had still was some wild garlic growing there.Also on top the rise of the land there was a open faced cave ,where they took turns to watch out for anyone approching....Spent 3 months in that part of Victoria.When we were there they were doing some work on the highway half way between Ararat and Great Western (Armstrongs ) it is called and the workmen were digging out some dirt from beside the road and found what they presume to have been and old sly grog hut ,with all the bottles and other stuff that they uncovered also found a very old mussket gun.Deep Lead just the other side of Stawell is a fatastic place to look around as that was one of the first places they found Gold at in Vic.

Cloak · Guru

Gerty Dancer wrote:
Farina SA is such an amazing place...the land is gibber desert yet the powers that be of the time decided it would be a good place to grow wheat crops, and laid out a town, people came and tried, some left, some died. How those early pioneers must have suffered! The cemetery was very moving, childrens graves, several from the same families, a separate area for Moslems, the whole place so sad.

There was a belief back then that if you worked the land (plowing) then the rains would come. Due to the lack of science based reasoning poeple including Government types only had belief systems to draw upon. These days we are moving towards an evidence based culture thank goodness...

-- Edited by Gerty Dancer on Thursday 21st of March 2013 11:54:06 AM

Sol · Senior Member

I was talking to a couple yesterday and they told me of a book that is interesting reading and has info on what I was after.
It's called Angor to Zillmanton. The library has it here in Tully so will check it out.

Cheers Sol

Dunmowin · Guru

Sol wrote:
Jen and I like to explore old Ghost Towns on our travels.
Does anyone know of any books or do you have any info on where some are that we can visit?
We've looked around Mt Mulligan, Kingsbourgh up here in Far Nth Qld.
Sol

check out Crackow in central qld, near Idsvold. Ghost town, gold mining, and a fantastic free camp to boot.

Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens.