Smithfield, South Australia

Settlement of Smithfield occurred circa 1850 when Scottish immigrant, John Smith took ownship of land where the main road north intersected with a freshwater course now known as Smith Creek (or Grant Creek).[4] Smith built a homestead on his property in 1850 and set up part of it as a hotel to take advantage of traffic passing by on the main road.[5][6] Smith planned a town and by 1853 section 3165 of the Hundred of Munno Para was surveyed and subdivided into town allotments.[6] He donated land in 1855 to build the Presbyterian church and, by 1860, the fledgling town had a telegraph station, railway station, institute building, a store, and several other service providers.[6] Gawler Plains post office had opened on 12 July 1850 and was renamed Smithfield in 1855.[7]

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.[8] The Smithfield Speedway was believed to be the first in the world to be promoted by a motorcycle club.[9] The first meeting was scheduled for Wednesday 13 October 1926, but postponed to Saturday 16 October due to poor weather.[10] The first race meeting was held before the grandstands were built, and the new track generated a lot of dust.[11] 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.[12]

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.[14] 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.[15] 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.[16]