Yeelanna, South Australia facts for kids
Quick facts for kids YeelannaSouth Australia |
|||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Yeelanna
Location in South Australia
|
|||||||||||||||
| Established | 1904 | ||||||||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 5632 | ||||||||||||||
| Location |
|
||||||||||||||
| LGA(s) | District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula | ||||||||||||||
| Region | Eyre Western | ||||||||||||||
| County | Flinders | ||||||||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Flinders | ||||||||||||||
| Federal Division(s) | Grey | ||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||
Yeelanna is a small town in South Australia. Its name comes from an Aboriginal word meaning "Local Spring." You can find Yeelanna on the Lower Eyre Peninsula, about 77 kilometers (48 miles) north of Port Lincoln. It sits along the Tod Highway and the Eyre Peninsula Railway. The land around Yeelanna is very good for farming. Farmers here grow crops on the same land year after year.
Yeelanna's Past: A Look Back
The first people to live in this area were the Nauo Tribe. White settlers arrived in 1904. At first, the area was called Shannon. The town was planned out in 1908 and named Bellwood. However, the name of the railway stop, Yeelanna, became the town's official name.
In the early days, Yeelanna had a policeman who lived in a tent! There were even two brick cells for people who broke the rules. A large dam was dug in 1909. This dam provided water for the town. Later, it helped water the local oval for sports like football and cricket.
Yeelanna used to have many businesses. There was a butcher shop and a blacksmith shop. A big hotel with 19 rooms opened in 1912. It closed in 1924. The hotel was then taken apart, and its stones were moved to Kimba. They were used to build the Kimba Gateway Hotel there.
The town also had a bank and a bakery until the 1950s. A boarding house, where people could stay, opened in 1910. The primary school opened in 1908 and closed in 1972. Today, this old school building is the Bellwood Museum. Yeelanna also had a railway station and some mechanical repair shops. In the early 1980s, there were two shops, one of which was also the post office. The last shop, the Yeelanna General Store, closed in the late 1980s.
Sports and Community Life
The old oval in Yeelanna is still used today. The Yeelanna Memorial Association grows crops on it to help raise money. A new sports park was made in the 1950s. It had a new oval that was used until about 2003-2004 for cricket. Part of this park has since been sold. A new house and business are now there. However, the toilets, tennis courts, and netball courts are still public.
Today, Yeelanna has a Hall with public toilets. The post office is located in one of the Hall's front rooms. Large grain silos were built in the 1960s. A railway line has been here since 1908. It used to carry grain to Port Lincoln for export. Since 2018, all grain in the Eyre Peninsula is moved by road.
Yeelanna has about fourteen houses. It also has a Uniting Church and a CFS (Country Fire Service) brigade. There is an Agriculture Bureau, which helps farmers. It has been around since 1908. There is also a Country Woman's Association. The Bellewood Museum and a historic cemetery are also in town.
Yeelanna has a table tennis club that started in 1939. They play their games in the Yeelanna Hall. The Yeelanna Football Club began in 1909, and the Netball Club started around 1934. In 1964, these clubs joined with clubs from nearby Karkoo and Murdinga. They formed the United Yeelanna Football and Netball clubs. They kept the blue and gold colors of Yeelanna. The football and netball teams have won many championships over the years.
The Yeelanna Cricket Club started around 1911. It joined with Karkoo's club around 2000-2001. They became the Karkoo/Yeelanna cricket club. This club also uses the blue and gold colors. The Yeelanna tennis club used to have a team until the late 1980s. Its players then joined the club in Karkoo.
Yeelanna Uniting Church
The Yeelanna Uniting Church is part of the Western Eyre Uniting Churches Parish. You can find the church on Bell Terrace, across from the museum. It welcomes people from different Christian backgrounds. The church also has a Sunday school and a youth group for kids and teens.
