Smithfield, South Australia

Smithfield
Adelaide, South Australia
Smithfield
Coordinates 34°41′09″S 138°41′13″E / 34.685833°S 138.686944°E / -34.685833; 138.686944Coordinates: 34°41′09″S 138°41′13″E / 34.685833°S 138.686944°E / -34.685833; 138.686944
Population 1,754 (2006 census)[1]
Postcode(s) 5114
Location 30 km (19 mi) NW of Adelaide city centre
LGA(s) City of Playford
State electorate(s) Napier
Federal Division(s) Wakefield
Suburbs around Smithfield:
Smithfield Plains Munno Para Blakeview
Davoren Park Smithfield Blakeview
Davoren Park Elizabeth North Elizabeth Downs

Smithfield is a suburb in the northern outskirts of Adelaide, South Australia. It is in the City of Playford.

Gawler Plains Post Office opened on 12 July 1850 and was renamed Smithfield in 1855.[2]

Geography

Smithfield has Main North Road as its eastern boundary, with service stations, the historic Smithfield Hotel and several other businesses and private residences. Anderson Walk is the southern boundary of the original village, which was arranged in a grid with Augusta Square in the centre. West of the older residential area is an industrial zone along the railway line, with Smithfield railway station on the south side of Anderson Walk. Munno Para Shopping City is on the south side of Smith Creek. There are more residential areas south and west of the railway station, and an Army Reserve depot west of the shopping centre which is home to the 3rd/9th Light Horse (South Australian Mounted Rifles)[3] and 49 ACU Army Cadets.[4]

Smithfield Speedway

A 1 mile (1.6 km) speedway track was built in the Smithfield area in 1926 by the Motorcycle Club of South Australia. The exact location may have been in what is now Elizabeth Downs.[5] The Smithfield Speedway was believed to be the first in the world to be promoted by a motorcycle club.[6] The first meeting was scheduled for Wednesday 13 October 1926, but postponed to Saturday 16 October due to poor weather.[7] The first race meeting was held before the grandstands were built, and the new track generated a lot of dust.[8] The track was on the east side of the Gawler Road, a little south of Smithfield township, in a paddock of 80 acres (32 ha). It appears to have only operated until about 1930.[9]

Migrant Hostel

Following World War II, a migrant hostel was established on land no longer required for a munitions depot near the railway line at Smithfield. It was operated by the Commonwealth Government from 1949 until 1971 on the land between the railway line and Coventry Road.[10] Single people were allocated space in a dormitory, families had a section of a larger building with two or three bedrooms and a sitting room. Cooking and eating was in a communal dining hall, and there were shared ablution blocks. It had accommodation for 100 people at the end of January 1949, and housed up to 300 people at a time. There was no charge to live in the hostel until the breadwinner of the family found a job. After that, the family was charged a rate proportional to their income for up to a year while they found a permanent home.[11] The hostel was initially a "camp for Balts", housing displaced people from Europe. By 1951, it was also home to British migrants. The Girl Guides operated in the hostel.[12]

Notable people

See also

References

  1. ↑ Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Munno Para (State Suburb)". 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
  2. ↑ Premier Postal History. "Post Office List". Premier Postal Auctions. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
  3. ↑ "3/9 Lt Horse; South Australian Mounted Rifles". Digger History. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  4. ↑ "49 ACU Smithfield". Department of Defence. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  5. ↑ "Smithfield Speedway". Ifech Media Group. 20 January 2016. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  6. ↑ "THE SMITHFIELD SPEEDWAY.". The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 - 1931). Adelaide, SA: National Library of Australia. 7 October 1926. p. 26. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  7. ↑ "Advertising.". The Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 - 1929). Adelaide, SA: National Library of Australia. 13 October 1926. p. 2. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  8. ↑ "NEW SPEEDWAY.". The Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 - 1954). Adelaide, SA: National Library of Australia. 16 October 1926. p. 10. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  9. ↑ "SMITHFIELD SPEEDWAY.". Bunyip (Gawler, SA : 1863 - 1954). Gawler, SA: National Library of Australia. 9 May 1930. p. 2. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  10. ↑ "Hostels". Migration Museum, Adelaide. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  11. ↑ "Smithfield Migrant Hostel". Playford's Past History Blog. 20 January 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  12. ↑ "Smithfield". Hostel Stories. Migration Museum, Adelaide. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
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