Tailem Bend is a major transport centre built on the cliffs overlooking the Murray River. It is the last town before the river enters Lake Alexandrina.

Where is it?: Murray Riverlands. 99 km east of Adelaide; 21 metres above sea level.

The town's real roots lie in the railway. It is essentially a railway town was created when the railway came through the area in 1886. The town was proclaimed in 1887. If you doubt the importance of the railway try and think how many towns you have visited where the railway line (and the attractive local railway station) run alongside the main street. Tailem Bend is a common stopping point for truck drivers and motorists into and out of Adelaide, as there are no further fuel or food outlets with truck facilities on the freeway.

Old Tailem Town

Old Tailem Town
Old Tailem Town (5 km north): Located on the South Eastern Freeway 5 km north of Tailem Bend this is a very extensive historic village which contains more than 70 old buildings including corner stores, emporiums, dance halls, hospitals, dentists, chemists, barbers, butchers, bakers, saddlers, clock shops, bootmakers, pubs, stables, police stations, coach and bike shops and the Cobb & Co terminus.

Peter Squires, who created the town, writes: 'I started building Old Tailem Town in 1982 after visiting Swan Hill's village in 1971. I gathered buildings from a 150 mile radius and put them together in a form of an old town depicting the times from 1920 to 1960.' The buildings include the Long Flat Town Hall (1905), Murray Bridge Railway Administration Office (1906), Wolseley Methodist Church (1900), Langhorne Creek bakershop (1920), Wattleford Methodist Church (1900), Peake Railway Station (1906)

Poltalloch Homestead: Built in 1876 at Narrung this beautiful Victorian mansion is a reminder of the wealth that was generated in the area at this time. Today it is still a working farm being operated by the descendants of John Bowman who established it as a sheep and cattle station. The outbuildings resemble a small village and include substantial stables, a coach house, barns, a woolshed and the manager's accommodation. It is open for tours and overnight accommodation. Ph. (08) 8574 0043.

About Tailem Bend

Brief history: Prior to European settlement the area was inhabited by the Ngarrindjeri people (they are the same people who fought over secret women's business at Goolwa). They made bark and reed canoes, and lived on the fish and animals which came to live beside the river. The Ngarrindjeri people were decimated by the arrival of Europeans. The combination of smallpox (which raged all the way up the Murray River) and massacres saw the numbers drop dramatically.

Captain Charles Sturt came into this part of Ngarrindjeri Aboriginal territory in February 1830 on his epic journey by boat down the Murrumbidgee and Murray Rivers from Queensland to Lake Alexandrina, at the mouth of the river. Soon after Sturt's trip through the area, the area was soon opened up and overlanders quickly moved sheep and cattle into the locality. The town was never a river port, being located high on the cliffs above the river, but came into being with the arrival of the railway in 1886. The town became a major rail centre.

Origin of name: the origin of the name is unsure. There are a number of theories. One source states it is a corruption of the local Aboriginal word 'thelim' meaning 'bend' (the town is located near a major bend in the river). Other sources claim the name originated with Donald Gollan, one of the early European settlers, who called his property 'Taleam' (this and the former suggestion could well be one and the same). Another source states it refers to cutting tails off sheep while another equally dubious suggestion says the name arose from advice given by the Aboriginals on how to get cattle to swim across the Murray 'bendem tail, boss'.