Oodla Wirra, South Australia

Oodla Wirra (formerly Penn) is a small town in the upper Mid North of South Australia. It is on the Barrier Highway approximately halfway from Adelaide to Broken Hill.

Oodla Wirra
South Australia
Halfway Hotel at Oodla Wirra
Oodla Wirra
Coordinates32°52′59″S 139°03′47″E[1]
Population3 (2016 census)[2]
Established1889
Elevation505 m (1,657 ft)[3]
Location259 km (161 mi) N of Adelaide
LGA(s)District Council of Peterborough
RegionYorke and Mid North[1]
CountyHerbert[1]
State electorate(s)Stuart
Localities around Oodla Wirra:
Dawson Nackara
Oodla Wirra
Ucolta Parnaroo

When the railway was built in 1880, a siding was provided, named Oodla Wirra. Soon after, a town was surveyed near the siding, but it was named Penn. This naming conflict continued until 1940, when the town was renamed Oodla Wirra, to match the railway station.[4][5]

Railway

Oodla Wirra is a former railway town, as it was on the narrow-gauge railway between Port Pirie and Cockburn (where it connected to the Silverton Tramway to Broken Hill). When the Commonwealth Government replaced the narrow gauge line with a standard gauge line, the revised route passed south and east of the town.

A railway guard was killed in a shunting accident in the Oodla Wirra railyards in 1909.[6]

In 1889, ironstone flux was mined from a failed silver mine a few miles away, and carted to Oodla Wirra to be transported by rail to the smelters at Port Pirie.[7]

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References
  1. "Search result for 'Oodla Wirra, LOCB' with the following datasets selected - 'Suburbs and Localities', 'Counties', "Hundreds', 'SA Government Regions', 'Local Government Areas', 'Government Towns' and 'Gazetteer'". Location SA Map Viewer. South Australian government. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  2. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Oodla Wirra (State Suburb)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  3. "Search result for 'Oodla Wirra Railway Station' with the following datasets selected - 'Suburbs and Localities' and 'Gazetteer'". Location SA Map Viewer. South Australian government. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  4. "Placename Details: Penn". Property Location Browser. Government of South Australia. 12 May 2011. SA0054343. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  5. "NEW TOWN NAMES APPROVED". The Advertiser (Adelaide). South Australia. 26 July 1940. p. 10. Retrieved 5 September 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. "RAILWAY ACCIDENT". The Register (Adelaide). LXXIV (19, 434). South Australia. 25 February 1909. p. 5. Retrieved 23 March 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. "A New Local Industry". Petersburg Times. II (102). South Australia. 19 July 1889. p. 4. Retrieved 23 March 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
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