Heritage Towns

So many cities, suburbs and towns in South Australia tell the stories of our past in their buildings, their streets, their gardens and their layout. The following places are some of the most significant heritage areas in Australia.

Colonel Light Gardens, Adelaide
A planned garden suburb, laid out like a flag with parks and avenues, this southern suburb was a post-war dream for a better world, the best example of its kind in Australia. A State Heritage Area.

North Adelaide
Part of Colonel Light's original plan for Adelaide, North Adelaide has an enviable mix of grand mansions, humble workers' cottages, commercial buildings and churches from the mid 19th century and the early 20th century.

Port Adelaide
The maritime heart of the state, the Port has a substantial collection of colonial buildings, evocative of the earliest days of settlement, when Adelaide's only contact with the world was by ship. Learn its colourful stories at the South Australian Maritime Museum. A State Heritage Area.

Hahndorf, Adelaide Hills
Hahndorf was settled in 1839 by a congregation of Lutherans from Prussia, and you can still see how they planned the village as a U-shape with the church as the focus. The main street and surrounding farmlets reflect the origins of these pioneers. A State Heritage Area.

Mount Torrens, Adelaide Hills
This charming English-style village seems untouched by the twentieth century, with more than 20 houses, shops and other buildings in its main street and nearby being more than a century old, with some dating back to the 1850s. A State Heritage Area.

Church Hill at Gawler, Barossa
Church Hill, on a natural rise to the west of Gawler's main commercial street (Murray Street), was a focus of William Light's original plan for the settlement, featuring his characteristic wide streets, parks and still home to three churches.  Church Hill remains much as it was in colonial times. A State Heritage Area.

Burra, Clare Valley
This is one of Australia's earliest, largest and best-preserved nineteenth century mining towns, with its remarkable layout and importance (and the sheer magnificence of the buildings) exemplified by the fact the entire town is heritage-listed.  Explore it on the Burra Heritage Trail - you get the key to the major sites and a terrific guide book. A State Heritage Area.

Mintaro, Clare Valley
This beautifully intact early Victorian village owes its character to the slate mines for which it is famous - you'll see it in the walls, roofs, sills, fences, steps and paths everywhere. On the outskirts, the grand mansion Martindale Hall is one of the country's best-preserved historic homes. A State Heritage Area.

Goolwa, Fleurieu Peninsula
In its heyday, Goolwa was one of Australia's most important river ports, the final destination for paddle steamers on the Murray-Darling network. From 1850 to the 1880s, more than a hundred paddlesteamers, and myriad barges, riverboats and other craft crowded these waters. It is still a registered port, and home to the biennial Wooden Boat Festival.  A State Heritage Area.

Petticoat Lane, Penola, Limestone Coast
Petticoat Lane is a wonderful 'turn of the century' country lane that shows the self-sufficiency of early South Australian town life.  It includes The Woods MacKillop Schoolhouse - one of the most significant sites associated with Blessed Mary MacKillop. A State Heritage Area.

Moonta, Yorke Peninsula
Thousands rushed to Moonta when copper was discovered in 1861 and it became the second largest town in the colony.  Many of the miners were Cornish and their legacy is still evident in remaining buildings, as is the wealth that the mine generated. A State Heritage Area.