Oakbank, South Australia

Oakbank is a town in the Adelaide Hills, east of Adelaide in South Australia. It is in the Adelaide Hills Council area. At the 2006 census, Oakbank had a population of 473.[2]

Oakbank
South Australia
Oakbank Racecourse
Oakbank is located in South Australia
Oakbank
Oakbank
Coordinates34°59′0″S 138°51′0″E
Population865 (SAL 2021)[1]
Established1840
Postcode(s)5243
Elevation338 m (1,109 ft)
LGA(s)Adelaide Hills Council
State electorate(s)Kavel
Federal division(s)Mayo
Localities around Oakbank:
Carey Gully Lenswood Woodside
Balhannah Oakbank Inverbrackie
Hahndorf Mount Barker Nairne

History

The town was founded in about 1840 by Scottish brothers James and Andrew Johnston. The Johnstons had come out to South Australia on the East Indiaman Buckinghamshire in 1839, and by the following year were opening up the country in the Onkaparinga Valley near the present site of the township. The Johnston family hailed from Oakbank, Scotland district, and hence decided to name the new township Oakbank. A large oak tree that still stands in the main street of the town was reportedly grown from an acorn carried to Australia by one of the brothers[3][4]

James and Andrew Johnston founded the J. & A.G. Johnston brewery in 1845, tapping an underground spring fed by the Onkaparinga River.[4] A second brewery was built by Henry Pike in 1889, which he named the Dorset Brewery. Both breweries were forced to shut down in 1938 due to a virus in the yeast, and therefore both turned to making soft drinks and cordials instead.[5] Johnston's Cordial is still a popular soft drink brand, and one of South Australia's oldest family-owned businesses. The Dorset brewery site now produces hand-woven textiles.

Oakbank is well known for the Oakbank Easter Racing Carnival. Held over two days during the Easter weekend, thousands of visitors come to see the premiere event, the Great Eastern Steeplechase.[5][6] It is also on the Onkaparinga Valley Road, SA route B34.

Railway

Oakbank was served by Oakbank station, part of the Mount Pleasant railway line from 1918 to 1953.

References
  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Oakbank (Suburb and Locality)". Australian Census 2021 QuickStats. Retrieved 28 June 2022. 
  2. Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Oakbank (L) (Urban Centre/Locality)". 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
  3. "Adelaide Hills Council". ahc.sa.gov.au. Archived from the original on 26 September 2011.
  4. "Oakbank the town: Keith does a bit of exploring in "them there hills" in the Adelaide Hills region of South Australia". postcards-sa.com.au. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  5. Commission, corporateName=South Australian Tourism. "Visit South Australia – feel stimulated, relaxed, and inspired". Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  6. "The Oakbank Race Trains" Callaghan, W.H. Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, August, 1995 pp. 211–221.


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