Barossa History

The idea of constructing a railway from Gawler to Angaston via Lyndoch and Tanunda was first recommended by a commission in 1875. Fast forward 150 years... and the railway has come — and gone!

The Community Store celebrates 80 years of operation in 2024, but the site of its first store, purchased in 1944, goes back to settlement days.

Spring signals the beginning of warmer weather, and with it comes the familiar ‘buzz’ of the blowfly. Besides being annoying, the eradication of flies was encouraged when they were labelled as carrying diseases such as typhus, tuberculosis and dysentery in the early 1900s.

Shoes today can be more of a fashion statement than a practical item of footwear – unlike the boots and shoes worn by the Barossa pioneers. Among the settlers were numerous tradespeople keen to establish business in the area, one being the Bootmaker.

Many children growing up in Australia in the 1950s, 60s and 70s may remember one special evening held annually on November 5 – Guy Fawkes Night or ‘Cracker Night’.

The early 1900s witnessed the introduction of electricity to the Barossa. As the century progressed, new business opportunities began to flourish.

German tradesmen were among the original Barossa settlers, and their trade skills were often passed onto their sons. However, Carl Ewald Graetz was the son of farmers, Rudolph and Eleonore Graetz (nee Rothe). Born in Keyneton in 1865, Ewald became an intriguing builder and cabinetmaker.

Point Pass is a small town 11km North of Eudunda and like most country towns, it once had a thriving General Store.

Lion Brand groceries were produced by D & J Fowler, and their main Adelaide building, topped with a lion statue, still stands at North Terrace as the Lion Arts Factory.

Warnecke’s long running Chemist & Druggist store in Gawler Street, Nuriootpa closed around 1922, leaving an opening for a new pharmacist in town.