Eringa Station facts for kids
Eringa Station is a very large cattle farm located in the outback of South Australia. It was once owned by a famous Australian, Sir Sidney Kidman, who was known as the "Cattle King." The land where Eringa Station is found was officially named a "locality" (a type of place) called Eringa in 2013.
This station is about 79 kilometers (49 miles) south of Aputula and 151 kilometers (94 miles) east of Kulgera. The land around Eringa is hilly. It also gets more rain than many other parts of the surrounding desert. There was once a special waterhole within the station's borders, called the Eringa waterhole, which rarely dried up.
History of Eringa Station
Eringa Station started operating before 1879. It was first owned by Arthur Treloar and J. J. Duncan. Mr. Treloar was in charge of running the property. By 1886, Eringa Station was home to 4,000 cattle and 150 horses. That's a lot of animals!
Sidney Kidman's Ownership
In 1899, Sir Sidney Kidman bought the property. At that time, Eringa Station was a massive 2,096 square miles (5,428 square kilometers). In the same year, Kidman also bought two other large stations, Austral Downs and Carcoory. Sir Kidman even named his home in Kapunda, which he bought around 1900, after Eringa Station.
In 1908, the station covered an area of 1,088 square miles (2,818 square kilometers). The area received excellent rainfall in 1910. Over 4 inches (100 millimeters) of rain fell in just a few days. This caused the creeks in the area to flood. By 1955, Eringa Station was even bigger, covering 3,500 square miles (9,065 square kilometers). It was managed by Mr. W. L. Franklin and had 5,000 cattle.
Eringa Today
Today, the original buildings of Eringa Station are old and no longer used. The land that was once Eringa Station is now part of an even larger property. This property is called Hamilton Station, and it covers about 7,700 square kilometers (2,973 square miles).
As mentioned, the land that used to be the Eringa Station farm was officially named a "locality" called Eringa in April 2013.
