Laura

Laura is a small and attractive township located on the eastern slopes of the lower Flinders Ranges 218 km from Adelaide. It is a town characterised by one of the widest main streets in South Australia with stands of peppercorns and gumtrees enhancing the street. Today the shopping centre is quite unusual in the sense that there are little blocks of two or three shops separated by a few houses, then a few more shops - all this is in the long main street. In recent times its future has been tied to a proliferation of gift and craft shops which have breathed new life into the town.

Where is it?: 21 km north of Crystal Brook; 11 km north west of Gladstone.




The town's major claim to fame is that it has the boyhood home of noted Australian vernacular poet C. J. Dennis whose creations included 'The Sentimental Bloke'. Dennis's father was the licensee of the Beetaloo Reservoir Hotel from 1892 to 1910. C.J. worked as a barman for his father in 1898 but they soon fell out and he left and went to Broken Hill. He wrote the poem, 'Laura Days', to celebrate the town's Golden Jubilee (fifty years) in 1932.

When the evening sun slants through the gums,
By my forest-rimmed abode
Once more the old clear picture comes,
And my mind drifts down the road;
Back to the town by Beetaloo,
Where the rocky river strays;
Back to the old kind friends I knew
In the dear dead Laura days.

This poem, 'Laura Days' was written by C.J. Dennis to celebrate the town's Golden Jubilee (fifty years) in 1932.


Outside Dick Biles Gallery is a large metal statue of C. J. Dennis designed by Dave Griffiths. It is a fitting tribute to a poet who was born in 1876 and spent his formative years in the town. Dennis remembered his time in Laura with affection. In 1932 he recalled his childhood writing 'In sifting through these memories I can discover nought that could be set down in malice, but a very great deal that gives me constant happiness to recall.'

The Laura Folk Fair, a two day folk festival, is held every April and attracts thousands of people to the town. This is much more than a folk festival with food, art and craft stalls, bush dancing, fireworks and music and literary awards.

The Old Court House, built in 1877, is now part of the local Rocky River Historical and Art Society. It operated as a Court House for 90 years and was only closed down in 1968. It is used for art exhibitions during the Laura Folk Fair.


Located in rugged country only a few kilometres from Laura, the Beetaloo Reservoir was South Australia's first regional reservoir. It was built between 1885-1890 (thus bringing men and work to the area) at a cost of £700,000 to supply water to Port Pirie, Moonta, Wallaroo and Kadina. Most of the water was required for the mining and smelting works in the Copper Triangle. Beetaloo now provides water for local agriculture and grazing.

History

The town was founded in 1872 on Booyoolee Station land with the establishment of a staging post on the Main North Road from Adelaide. Two Chinese market gardeners settled there and implemented South Australia's first irrigation system to grow vegetables and fruit at Laura. Beer, ice and dairy products were later produced in the town for shipment to Broken Hill after its mining operations were established in the 1880s. Flax was also produced in the area.

Origin of name: recalls Laura Hughes, the wife of Booyoolee Station's Herbert Bristow Hughes. Laura was the daughter of Samuel White, who migrated with his family from Dorset, England in 1843, and established White Park, one of SA's major pastoral stations.

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