Port Elliot Heritage Trail

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Posted 2016-03-02 by Steve Hudson ⇒ follow

It was only 15 years in the middle of the 19th Century but it was enough to leave an indelible mark on the South Coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula and to create a town that we now know as historic Port Elliot. A quick walk through the town gives a great insight in to those 15 years, and the years since.

Horseshoe Bay was proclaimed as a port in 1851 and the settlement above the bay was named Port Elliot in 1852 after Charles Elliot, the then Governor of Bermuda (a friend of the SA Governor at the time). The initial purpose of Port Elliot was to be the conduit for ocean and river trade by opening up the corridor between Port Elliot and Goolwa.

Major infrastructure was required and a rail line, jetty and wharf were all completed by 1854. To support these, a series of minor infrastructure projects commenced with a view to maintaining a viable town facilitating transportation and supporting local industry.

Hotels and churches are typically always the first buildings to be built in fledgling towns and Port Elliot was no different with the Port Elliot Hotel being built in 1851 on the Main Road beating the church by three years. However longevity is a different story, and the St Jude's Anglican Church remains active today while the Port Elliot Hotel has changed a few times and is now the Arnella by the Sea guesthouse.

Part of becoming a town meant government buildings were also required, and a harbourmaster's cottage was built in 1852, a police station in 1853 and a government store in 1854. By this time the rail line was complete and Port Elliot was a hive of activity with river-to-ocean trade.

However the next 10 years saw a series of shipping disasters in and around Horseshoe Bay, and a decision was made to extend the rail line to Port Victor . The vibrancy that brought optimism to the town was suddenly lost, and for a decade or so the town became a shell of its former self.

However in the late 1870's this was to change as Port Elliot was given a second life and commenced the process of transforming itself from a transportation and industry hub to a seaside destination for tourists from Adelaide. The opening of passenger rail and the commencement of the local council facilitated this process, and local businessmen got on board.

The Port Elliot Council Chamber in The Strand was built at a time when development was encouraged, and bureaucracy and paperwork were items to be constrained by the physical size of the building.

The mandatory communal Institute building arrived, while the decade-old post office and telegraph station received upgrades to accommodate the extra visitors. The Hotel Elliot expanded from the small Railway Hotel, and in 1880 the Royal Family Hotel was built alongside a small but growing Norfolk Island pine tree. The pine, believed to have been planted in the early 1870's, still stands tall across the rear of the hotel and provides great shelter in the gardens.

As the tourists kept coming, the town kept evolving. New schools and churches arrived, while the railway station underwent a complete overhaul early in the 20th Century.

It was also early in the 20th century that the first baked goods were sold at a site on the Main Road. Several owners and iterations later, the Port Elliot Bakery stands today as a contemporary example of how to deliver quality goods with outstanding customer service.

Today Port Elliot is more than just history. Contemporary dining in hotels and cafes, shops selling collectables and books, beaches treating family and friends, bikeways and recreation parks combine with historical artefacts and buildings to create a town that is on everyone's 'must do' list.

Port Elliot is around 75 minutes south of Adelaide. A historical walk takes visitors past the major items of significance. Each item has an information board which provides further details of its history over the last 160 years. The walk commences alongside the Council Chambers and takes around 60 minutes to complete.