MANNUM, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

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An attractive town on the banks of the lower Murray River that is the starting point of the Adelaide water-supply pipeline. The surrounding area produces, wool, beef and cereal crops.
Location: 84 km east of Adelaide; 13 metres above sea level.
Origin of name: of Aboriginal origin, the name originally applied to a subdivision. It was given to the town when it was surveyed in 1864. The meaning or origin of the name is not known.
Brief history: the original occupants of the area were the Naralte Aborigines. Mannum was one of the original river ports on the Murray, developing along with the river trade in the 1850s. Land along the Murray had been surveyed in 1840. One of its first residents was explorer Edward John Eyre who took up land there in 1841. Much of the wool brought down the river for domestic use was offloaded at Mannum, that for overseas markets went on to Goolwa. The town of Mannum was surveyed in 1864. Many Germans settled in the Mannum district in the 1870s and 1880s at a time when agriculture became the mainstay of the town's economy. History.
Natural features: Murray River; Bird sanctuary; Mannum Waterfalls Reserve (10 km south).
Built features: Scenic Lookout
Heritage features: Mannum Museum; historic paddlesteamer PS Marion (1897); Rocklea Historic Reserve Aboriginal rock shelter with paintings (16 km west); Randall Dry Dock and Beam Pumping Engine; Cowirra Historic Aboriginal Reserve