Glenelg, South Australia

The first British settlers set sail for South Australia in 1836. Several locations for the settlement were considered, including Kangaroo Island, Port Lincoln and Encounter Bay. The Adelaide plains were chosen by Colonel William Light, and Governor John Hindmarsh proclaimed the province of South Australia at the site of The Old Gum Tree in Glenelg North on 28 December 1836.[7]

The first post office in Glenelg opened on 5 December 1849; the first postmaster was John McDonald of the St Leonard's Inn. A telegraph office was opened in September 1859 and the two offices amalgamated in 1868.[8] The present post office building on Moseley Square was built in 1912.[9]

The sale of the surveyed lots that constitute the Town of Glenelg was remarkable: the right to purchase, at £1 per "town acre", was allocated by means of a ballot held in February 1839. The "winner" was a syndicate of six led by William Finke, with Osmond Gilles, his nephew John Jackson Oakden and H. R. Wigley (father of W. R. Wigley) notable members.[10]

Among the town's earliest public buildings were the Independent (Congregational) church, opened 7 March 1848, St Peter's (Anglican) church, opened 28 March 1852 and the Pier Hotel, opened Christmas Day 1856, all the work of Henry J. Moseley,[11] for whom Moseley Street and Moseley Square were named. No trace of the original structures remains.

The Corporate Town of Glenelg was proclaimed in 1855, separating local governance of the township of Glenelg from that of the West Torrens and Brighton district councils. Construction of the Glenelg Institute, which is now the Glenelg Town Hall (pictured top right), started in 1875. The institute opened in 1877,[12] with lecture rooms, a concert hall and a library. The classical structure was designed by Edmund Wright, whose works include the Adelaide Town Hall and Adelaide General Post Office on King William Street.[13] The hall sits on Moseley Square, just off the beach. The Holdfast Bay city council acquired the hall in 1887.[12] Today it houses a museum, tourist information centre and restaurants.[13]

Construction of Glenelg's first jetty commenced in August 1857. It was opened on 25 April 1859. The structure was 381 metres (1,250 ft) long and cost over £31,000 to build. It served fishermen and maritime traders, including a mail service operated by P&O, until Port Adelaide replaced it as Adelaide's main port.[14] Passengers were also able travel from the Glenelg jetty to Kangaroo Island by steamer.[15]

Various additions to the jetty were made, none of which stand today. A lighthouse was built in 1872 at the jetty's end, but a year later it caught fire and was cast into the sea to save the rest of the structure. A replacement lighthouse was built in 1874, and was 12.1 metres (40 ft) tall. Other additions included public baths, an aquarium, a police shed and a three-story kiosk with tea rooms.[14] The kiosk structure also housed a family.[16]

The jetty kiosk was wrecked in a storm in 1943, and the jetty was severely damaged by a freak cyclone in 1948. Most of the structure washed away and the remaining structure was deemed unsafe. Just two weeks later, the local council began drafting plans for a new jetty and construction was completed in 1969.[17][18][19] The new structure was just 215 metres (705 ft) long,[19] less than two-thirds of the length of the original jetty. The second jetty continues to stand today, at the end of Jetty Road.

On 1 January 2016, two boys were drowned after falling into the water from rocks to north of the Glenelg jetty.[20]

An ill-fated breakwater construction project was conceived in the early 1900s, intended to create an artificial harbour for the protection of yachts and the local fishing fleet. Parliamentary approval was granted in 1905.[21] In 1909 and 1910, work was dogged by losses of machinery to rough seas[22] and concrete piles that shattered when driven.[23] Pile-driving for seabed study had some success in 1913.[24] By mid-1916 the project remained incomplete and its future was uncertain.[25] In 1918, the contractors took legal action against the Government seeking damages of £80,000.[26] By 1919, the project had become an embarrassment and an "eye sore" without providing a safe harbour as originally intended.[27] Today, the structures are heavily eroded and are colonised with marine life. The site is an artificial reef known to divers and snorkelers as "The Blocks" or "The Glenelg Blocks".[28]

Colley Reserve and the newly opened (in 1930) Luna Park on the foreshore at Glenelg

Glenelg has been a popular spot for recreation and leisure for much of its history. Following the success of Luna Park, Melbourne, a similar amusement park was constructed on Glenelg's foreshore in 1930.[29] Luna Park Glenelg was placed in voluntary liquidation in 1934, and all the rides (excluding a single carousel) were disassembled, purchased by the directors, and transported to Sydney, where they were used in the construction of Luna Park Sydney.[29] The park's managers claimed that the reasons for the closure were the inability to make money from the park as it was, and opposition to changes from Council and residents, who were afraid that "undesirables" would be attracted to the area.[29]

Built near the former Luna Park site was Magic Mountain, which first opened in 1982. It featured water slides, mini-golf, bumper boats, dodgem cars and many other amusements and was popular with many Adelaide residents. It was also extensively criticised, called an eyesore and likened to a "giant dog dropping" in the media; despite this it was very popular with young children and teenagers.[30] As part of the Holdfast Shores development, Magic Mountain was finally demolished in 2004 and replaced with The Beachouse, a 5-storey modern centre with a more conservative design which still incorporates the historic carousel; it opened in mid-2006. Since its opening, The Beachouse has been a widely popular attraction of the Glenelg area, appealing to both adults and children. A 25-metre single-arm Ferris wheel was a prominent feature of the area until its closure.[31]

South Australia's second largest wastewater treatment plants is located in Glenelg. It was first established in 1933, and was upgraded in 1945, 1962, 1973 and most recently in 2002. A pipeline pumps 2.8 gigalitres of treated wastewater to Adelaide where it is used to irrigate green spaces, such as parks and ovals. The facility also conducts tours for school groups and visitors to learn about water supply and treatment.[32] The plant also returns treated wastewater to the ocean. The most significant pollutants discharged to the sea (by mass) in 2018/19 were: nitrogen (180 tonnes), phosphorus (78 tonnes), chlorine (32 tonnes), ammonia (14 tonnes), fluoride (14 tonnes) and zinc (1 tonne).[33]

Atlantic Tower During Development, circa mid-1970s

Atlantic Tower was built in the late 1970s and was Adelaide's tallest residential building at the time. The fourteen-story tower featured a revolving restaurant on its top floor, and was part of a larger development plan that never eventuated.[34] Many other high-rise buildings exist in Glenelg, including the fifteen-story Stamford Grand hotel on Moseley Square, built in 1990,[35] and the twelve-story Liberty Towers, built in 2004.

The Holdfast Shores development, starting in the late 1990s, included the construction of the Marina Pier apartment building with its own private marina in Glenelg North, and the Pier Hotel, founded 2001, and unrelated to the historic Pier Hotel on Moseley Square. The development was met with strong opposition, from both local residents and the City of Holdfast Bay, fearing overdevelopment would ruin the area.[36] Parts of the plan were scaled back, with the Platinum Apartment building scaled down from fifteen stories to nine, and the cinema complex cancelled.

180-degree panoramic view of the Glenelg foreshore taken from mid–way along the jetty, showing some of the high–rise development.

Glenelg marina showing apartments and high-rise development