Echunga (/ɪˈtʃʌŋɡə/ ih-CHUNG-gə) is a small town in the Adelaide Hills located 34 kilometres (21 mi) south-east of Adelaide in South Australia.
| Echunga South Australia | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Hagen Arms Hotel, located in the main street | |||||||||||||||
  Echunga | |||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 35°06′0″S 138°47′0″E / 35.10000°S 138.78333°E | ||||||||||||||
| Population | 630 (UCL 2021)[1] | ||||||||||||||
| Established | 1839 | ||||||||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 5153 | ||||||||||||||
| Location | |||||||||||||||
| LGA(s) | District Council of Mount Barker | ||||||||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Electoral district of Heysen | ||||||||||||||
| Federal division(s) | Mayo | ||||||||||||||
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| Footnotes | [2] | ||||||||||||||
The area was settled by Europeans during the period of British colonisation of South Australia in 1839, with the town laid out in 1849.[3] The name of the town was derived from a name takes its name from the Kaurna word Ityangga, meaning "over there"[4] or "close by".[5]
Gold was discovered in 1852 and Echunga became the first proclaimed goldfield in South Australia. This led to a gold rush; however, it did not last long, with the diggings exhausted and all but abandoned within a year. Subsequent discoveries in 1853 and 1854 led to smaller and equally short-lived rushes. In 1868 more gold was discovered at nearby Jupiter Creek, which proved to be a much larger and long-lived field.[3]
For a brief time Echunga prospered and it has been estimated that at its peak it had grown to a population in excess of 1,200.[5] Echunga is part of Battunga Country.[6]
References
edit- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Echunga (urban centre and locality)". Australian Census 2021.
- ^ "Placename Details: Echunga". Property Location Browser. Government of South Australia. 1 August 2007. SA0021861. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
- ^ a b "Echunga". Retrieved 29 March 2007.
- ^ Schultz, Chester (30 April 2018). "Place Name Summary: (PNS) 1/02: Kawandilla" (PDF). Adelaide Research & Scholarship. The Southern Kaurna Place Names Project. University of Adelaide. Retrieved 16 November 2020.[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b "Echunga, South Australia". The Sydney Morning Herald. 8 February 2004. Retrieved 27 November 2006.
- ^ "Battunga Country". Retrieved 3 July 2007.
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