Woodside is a town in the Adelaide Hills region of South Australia. The town is between Balhannah and Lobethal, 37 kilometres (23 mi) from the state capital, Adelaide. Mount Barker is also nearby.

Woodside
South Australia
Woodside main street
Woodside is located in South Australia
Woodside
Woodside
Coordinates34°57′11″S 138°52′27″E / 34.953088°S 138.874238°E / -34.953088; 138.874238[1]
Population1,890 (UCL 2021)[2]
Established1850s
Postcode(s)5244
Location37 km (23 mi) from Adelaide
LGA(s)Adelaide Hills Council
Localities around Woodside:
Lenswood Lobethal
Charleston
Mount Torrens
Lenswood
Oakbank
Woodside Harrogate
Oakbank Hay Valley
Nairne
Brukunga

Description

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The town is a useful traffic hub linking Oakbank, Lobethal and Charleston. It is on the Onkaparinga Valley Road, South Australian route B34, and is 25 km due East of Adelaide's CBD.

Amenities include a swimming pool, library,[3] second hand store, grocery store, Cricket Club, tennis club, netball club, two pubs, lawyer, bowls club, and playing fields. Local businesses include Woodside Cheese Wrights, Melbas Chocolate Factory,[4] a Lobethal Bakery and Bird in Hand winery.[5]

It includes Inverbrackie, the site of Woodside Barracks which is the home base of the 16th Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery ground-based air defence unit.

Woodside Air Base was used by Aerotech for aerial firefighting, who relocated to Claremont Airbase near Brukunga[6] in 2016.

History

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The first European explorers through the Woodside district were Dr George Imlay and John Hill in January 1838.[7]

In 1839 the South Australian Company took out several special surveys which secured much of the central Mount Lofty Ranges and the sources of the Onkaparinga.

The Johnston family of Oakbank founded Woodside in the 1850s, primarily to improve their brewery business.

Gold was discovered in area. The largest mine was the Bird-in-Hand mine which operated from 1881 to 1889.

Annual motor races for bikes and cars were held on a street circuit in Woodside each October from 1947 to 1951 before the State Government banned the closing of public roads for racing.[8]

The Mount Pleasant railway line served Woodside from 1918 until 1963.

There was an army base here. There was also an immigration detention centre here and it was open for many years.[9]

References

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  1. ^ "Search results for 'Woodside, LOCB' with the following datasets selected – 'Suburbs and localities', 'Counties', 'Local Government Areas', 'SA Government Regions' and 'Gazetteer'". Location SA Map Viewer. South Australian Government. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  2. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Woodside (urban centre and locality)". Australian Census 2021.  
  3. ^ "Welcome to the Adelaide Hills Council Library Service". Archived from the original on 5 June 2009.
  4. ^ "Melba's Chocolates & Confectionery | Woodside | Adelaide". Melba's Chocolates & Confectionery.
  5. ^ "Bird in Hand". Bird in Hand. 31 August 2019. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  6. ^ "Claremont Air Base". South Australian Country Fire Service Promotions Unit.
  7. ^ "SOUTH AUSTRALIA". The Australian. 27 March 1838. p. 3.
  8. ^ Walker, Terry (1995). Fast Tracks. p. 186. ISBN 0908031556.
  9. ^ "Detainees moved out of Inverbrackie detention centre ahead of closure". Australia: ABC News. 12 December 2014.
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