Port Pirie

As South Australia's first proclaimed provincial city, Port Pirie has a diverse history, a proud multicultural heritage and a well earned reputation as a friendly city. An industrial and commercial centre, Port Pirie also boasts a large market garden as well as a fishing industry. Port Pirie's economy is driven by the huge silver, lead and zinc smelters which process the raw ore brought from Broken Hill and the large port which provides transportation for both the metal and rural industries which dominate the town.

Where is it?: Port Pirie is located on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf, 224 km north of Adelaide.




Port Pirie proudly announces itself as 'The City of Friendly People' although the first sight one has is not of people but of the huge oil tanks on the outskirts of town and the grain silos and the chimney at the smelter. It would be easy for the traveller to feel that here was a big smelly industrial city and keep driving but this would be to miss some fascinating buildings and a genuinely beautiful and gracious main street. Events
Every September and October it hosts the Southern Flinders Live Music Festival.

December/January: Tripolis Yachting Classic

Blessing of the Fleet: On the second Sunday in September the statue of Madonna Dei Martiri is carried to the local wharves by members of the Italian community and the town's fishing fleet is blessed.


Port Pirie is home to the National Trust Historic and Folk Museum and Memorial Park housed in the stunning former Ellen Street Railway Station. There is a wealth of history locked into the city and its buildings. Visitors can celebrate Port Pirie���s industrial success with a tour of the world���s largest lead smelter ��� an expansive facility that continues to dominate the city skyline. Tours run on Monday, Wednesdays, Fridays and bookings can be made at the Tourism and Arts Centre. The complex is a combination of buildings which include the old Customs House, the Victorian pavilion-style railway station and the Old Police Station.The old Customs House (1882) has been developed so it looks like a house from around 1900. the old Railway Station (1902) contains a scale model of Port Pirie's smelters and a blacksmith's display. And the old Police Station (1892) has been developed so the south side is a series of miniature shopfronts.

Port Pirie Regional Tourism and Arts Centre: Located on the corner of Ellen and Mary Elie Streets the Port Pirie Regional Tourism and Arts Centre is an ideal starting point for anyone wishing to explore Port Pirie and the surrounding region. It has plenty of tourist information as well as galleries which have good examples of local, national and international art. It is possible to get a Heritage Walk brochure here which provides a map and information on the town's major historic sites. For more information contact (08) 8633 8700.

Brief History
Prior to European settlement the district was known as 'tarparrie' (possibly meaning 'muddy creek') by the local Nuguna Aborigines. The area was first explored by Matthew Flinders who came up the Spencer Gulf in 1802. In 1839 Edward Eyre led an expedition from around Port Augusta north to Lake Eyre and in 1846 J. A. Horrocks discovered a pass (Horrocks Pass) through the Flinders Ranges and down onto the coastal plain. The muddy creek upon which the town's port was based was originally known as Samuel's Creek after its discoverer, Samuel Germein. Around 1845 the schooner John Pirie (it was owned by John Pirie one of the directors of the South Australian Company) made its way up the creek and managed to take on board a flock of sheep which is transported across Spencer Gulf to near Port Lincoln. It was as a result of this that Governor Robe named the site Port Pirie. In 1848 some 85 acres were sold in the area for the modest sum of £85. The focal point of early Port Pirie was a small township called Solomontown, thus named after the original land purchaser, Emanuel Solomon. During the 1870s another township was developed by the Government across the creek, which became modern day Port Pirie. Port Pirie's role as a true overseas port began in 1861, with the arrival of the barque County of Merioneth to load the first cargo of wheat grown in the area. But there were other freights emanating from the area which helped turn Port Pirie into a busy port - wool, tallow and meat products from Booyoolee station, Crystal Brook and Beetaloo, the big three properties in the area. By the 1970s, wharves were being built as more and more ships took on cargo there during the colony of South Australia's most affluent decade of the 19th century. It wasn't until 1871 that the town was surveyed and five years later it was declared a municipality.
Port Pirie would have remained just another port were it not for the discovery of silver and lead on Mt. Gipps station by Charles Rasp far away in an outback corner of New South Wales. What became the Broken Hill mine needed a port from which to ship out the ore, and Port Pirie was strategically placed to fulfil that role, being far and away the closest sea point to Broken Hill 332 km to the east. BHP's decision to make Port Pirie its industrial centre led to massive port developments, as well as import requirements for the new mine. The critical event in the town's history was the construction of the smelting works in 1889. This ensured the town's continuing future. It was greatly compounded by the completion of the Broken Hill Associated Smelters Pty Ltd smelting works in 1915. By 1934 it was the largest single-unit lead-smelting works in the world. For more than a century, mineral products have mostly come through the Port Pirie smelter. Broken Hill's massive mining operations led to the largest lead smelter in the world being built there. The series of complex processes includes the smelting and refining of concentrates to produce quality lead and important by-products such as zinc, silver, gold, copper, cadnium and sulphuric acid. In 1937 the broad gauge railway line to Adelaide was completed and by 1953 Port Pirie was declared South Australia's first provincial city. Today it is South Australia's second largest port, with wheat, barley, lead and zinc the main exports to pass through it. It is characterised by a gracious main street and some interesting and unusual historic buildings. It remains a busy port.

Content © 2016 Australia For Everyone | Email us