Thebarton, South Australia facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Thebarton Adelaide, South Australia
Queen of Angels Roman Catholic church on the corner of South Road and Kintore Street
Population	1,431 (2016 census)
Established	1839
Postcode(s)	5031
Location	2 km (1 mi) W of Adelaide
LGA(s)	City of West Torrens
State electorate(s)	West Torrens
Federal Division(s)	Adelaide
Suburbs around Thebarton: West Hindmarsh Hindmarsh Park Lands Torrensville Thebarton Park Lands Torrensville Mile End Park Lands

Thebarton ( theb-ƏR-tən), formerly Theberton, on Kaurna land, is an inner-western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia in the City of West Torrens. The suburb is bounded by the River Torrens to the north, Port Road and Bonython Park to the east, Kintore Street to the south, and South Road to the west.

Many buildings and landmarks that bear the name of Thebarton were in the history municipality, the Town of Thebarton, which included most of the adjoining suburb of Torrensville. These include the Thebarton Oval, the Thebarton croquet and bowls club, Thebarton Theatre, and Thebarton Senior College. The historic Adelaide Gaol, nominally shown as being in Thebarton, and the adjacent Thebarton Barracks of the South Australia Police actually lie within the northwestern Adelaide Park Lands. A part of Thebarton adjacent to the River Torrens, later the site of the South Australian Brewing Company, was originally known as Southwark. Hemmington, Hemmington West and West Thebarton were also suburbs later incorporated into current-day Thebarton.

History

Prior to European settlement, the areas now known as Thebarton and Hindmarsh were called Karraundongga (meaning "red gum spear place") by the Kaurna people, who would craft spears from the red gum branches gathered on the banks of the Torrens there.

The suburb of Thebarton was named after the home of Colonel William Light, the first Surveyor-General of the colony of South Australia. Colonel Light named his home after Theberton Hall of Suffolk, England, where he was educated. The variant spelling is accredited to a typographical error. The area was known as Theberton until approximately 1840.

Colonel Light surveyed the town-acre as Section 1 and built Theberton Cottage towards the northern part of the area. The area was first subdivided for housing in February 1839, although it took a number of years for the housing to establish, Thebarton Post Office opening on 24 October 1850. By 1866 the population was estimated at around 450 people.

Thebarton has a significant Greek-Australian population and is the suburb with the largest Greek Australian population per capita in Australia. In fact, according to census data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2001, the suburbs of Thebarton and neighbouring Torrensville together are home to 4,471 Greek-Australians; i.e., 18.7 per cent of the total population.

Government

Thebarton was part of the then largely rural District of West Torrens until 1883, when the residents of the more urban suburbs of Thebarton, Mile End and Torrensville successfully petitioned to become the Corporation of the Town of Thebarton. In 1997 the Town of Thebarton re-amalgamated with the City of West Torrens.

Landmarks

Thebarton Incinerator, designed by Walter Burley Griffin, viewed from the northeast.

Catholic Church on South Road

• St. George Greek Orthodox Church, Adelaide's largest Greek Orthodox church
• The Ice Arena, home of the Adelaide Adrenaline, who play in the Australian Ice Hockey League
• The Adelaide Gaol
• Thebarton Oval, former home of the West Torrens Football Club in the South Australian National Football League. Now home to the South Australian Amateur Football League.
• The Thebarton Incinerator, designed by Walter Burley Griffin in 1935, completed in 1937, and decommissioned in 1964, is one of his two buildings in SA listed as among the 120 nationally significant 20th-century buildings in South Australia, the other being the Hindmarsh Incinerator at Brompton.

Heritage listings

Thebarton has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

• 39A Dew Street: Lady Gowrie Child Centre
• 1 George Street: Squatters Arms Hotel
• 42 and 42A Phillips Street: Thebarton Baptist Church and Hall
• 77 Port Road: Southwark Hotel (pronounced)
• 35-37 Stirling Street: Faulding's Eucalyptus Oil Distillery
• 34-36 West Thebarton Road: Thebarton Incinerator

Demographics

Thebarton has a significant Greek-Australian population and is the suburb with the largest Greek Australian population per capita in Australia. In fact, according to census data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2001, the suburbs of Thebarton and neighbouring Torrensville together are home to 4,471 Greek-Australians; i.e., 18.7 per cent of the total population.

Images for kids

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  The incinerator at 34 West Thebarton Road was designed by noted American architect Walter Burley Griffin, who designed Canberra. The design, including exquisite tiles detail in this photo, was to mollify the local council, which did not want it within council boundaries.