Everything about Whyalla totally explained
Whyalla is a city and
seaport located on the east coast of the
Eyre Peninsula in
South Australia.
History
It was founded as Hummock Hill in
1901 by the
Broken Hill Proprietary Company (BHP) as the end of a tramway bringing
iron ore from the Middleback Ranges to be used in the
lead smelters at Port Pirie as flux. A jetty was built to transfer the ore. The settlement consisted of small cottages and tents clustered around the base of the hill. The arid environment and lack of natural fresh water resources made it necessary to import water in barges from Port Pirie.
In 1905 the town's first school opened. It was originally called Hummock Hill School, and was subsequently renamed as Whyalla Primary School and Whyalla Higher Primary School. The school's current name is Whyalla Town Primary School.
On
16 April 1920 the town was proclaimed as Whyalla. The ore conveyor on the jetty was improved and ore began to be shipped to the newly built
Newcastle, New South Wales steelworks. The town grew slowly until 1938.
The BHP Indenture Act was proclaimed in 1937 and provided the impetus for the construction of a
blast furnace and harbour. In 1939 the blast furnace and harbour began to be constructed and a commitment for a pipeline from the
Murray River was made. A
shipyard was built to provide ships for the
Royal Australian Navy. The population began rising dramatically and many new facilities, including a hospital and abbatoirs, were built.
In 1941 the first ship from the new shipyard,
HMAS Whyalla, was launched and the blast furnace became operational. By 1943 the population was more than 5,000. On
31 March 1943 the
Murray River pipeline from
Morgan became operational. In 1945 the city came under combined company and public administration and the shipyard began producing commercial ships. In 1948
displaced persons began arriving from Europe.
In 1958 the Company decided to build an integrated steelworks at Whyalla. They were completed in 1965. In the following year salt began to be harvested and
coke ovens were built. The population grew extremely rapidly, and the
South Australian Housing Trust was building 500 houses a year to cope with the demand. Plans for a city of 100,000 were produced by the Department of Lands. A second pipeline from Morgan was built to cope with the demand.
In 1970 the city adopted full local government status. Fierce competition from Japanese ship builders resulted in the closing of the shipyards in 1978, which were at the time the largest in Australia. From a peak population of 33,000 in 1976 the population dropped rapidly. A decline in the BHP iron and steel industry since 1981 also impacted employment.
The BHP long products division was
divested in 2000 to form
OneSteel which is the sole producer of rail and steel
sleepers in Australia.
From 2004 northern South Australia enjoyed a mining boom and Whyalla found itself well placed to benefit from new ventures, being situated on the edge of the
Gawler Craton. The city experienced an economic upturn with the population slowly increasing and the unemployment rate falling to a more typical level.
In late 2006 the Whyalla City Council began planning for a new industrial estate close to the One Steel Whyalla plant.
Transport
A
narrow gauge so-called tramway was built to
Iron Knob to supply iron ore originally used as flux when smelting copper ore. This ore became the basis of the steelworks. As the Iron Knob deposits were worked out, the railway was diverted to other sources of ore at
Iron Monarch,
Iron Prince,
Iron Duke and
Iron Baron.
Although the steelworks produced railway rail, for several decades there was no railway connection to the mainland system. Finally in 1972, a
standard gauge link to
Port Augusta was completed.
Some iron ore is exported from Whyalla. In 2007, steps were being taken to export iron ore from Peculiar Knob, 600km away.
Whyalla is served by
Whyalla Airport. On May 31, 2000, Whyalla Airlines
Flight 904
(registration VH-MZK) crashed into the Spencer Gulf due to engine failure in mid flight. All 8 people on board (1 Pilot, 7 Passengers) died.
Tourism
The
HMAS Whyalla was a World War 2 corvette. It was the first ship built in the city of Whyalla and was named after the city. The ship was landlocked as a tourist attraction in 1987, the main attraction of the Whyalla Maritime Museum.
In the late 1990s the spectacular annual migration of the
Australian Giant Cuttlefish Sepia apama to the reef areas north of Whyalla around Black Point and Point Lowly became recognised by international divers. It has also come to the attention of divers of Whyalla, that the same area in which the cuttlefish breed is, just a few months later, the place of congregation for
squid, which also come there to breed. This has only come to the attention of locals in 2005. There are also dolphins that frequent the local marina.
The Whyalla Conservation Park provides an example of the natural semi-arid environment.
The Hummock Hill lookout provides excellent views across the town, the port and the coast.
Government
Whyalla is in the
City of Whyalla local government area (along with some of the sparsely inhabited areas around it), the
state electorate of
Giles and the
federal Division of Grey.
Education
Primary schools
Primary schools in Whyalla include Whyalla Town Primary School, Fisk Street Primary School, Long Street Primary School, Hinks Avenue Primary School, Memorial Oval Primary School, Whyalla Stuart Primary School, and Nicolson Avenue Primary School. Of these Nicolson Avenue (the school formally known as Whyalla West Primary) is the largest, with over 500 students from reception to year 7, and Whyalla Stuart Primary School (the school formally known as Scott Street Primary) is the smallest, with under 90 students. Most other schools have between 150 and 300 students.
There is also the Whyalla Christian School (a ministry of the Whyalla
Assembly of God church) and two
Catholic schools - St Teresa's and Our Lady Help of Christians. In March 2007 it was announced that these two schools would be merging with St John's College to form a new R-12 school. This school, known as Samaritan College, began operating in 2008, initially remaining on three campuses.
Secondary schools
Public education is provided through the Whyalla Secondary College, which is a loose affiliation of the three government High Schools. The Whyalla Secondary College is composed of
Stuart High School,
Whyalla High School and
Edward John Eyre High School. Stuart High and Whyalla High provide Years 8 to 10, before students complete their
SACE at
Edward John Eyre High. Edward John Eyre High School celebrates 40 years of operation in 2008.
Private education is provided by
Saint John's College, Whyalla, a Catholic secondary school established
17th March 1963 by the
Christian Brothers. As of 2008, Saint John's College became one campus of Samaritan College.
Tertiary education
Tertiary education is provided by the Spencer Institute of
TAFE, and the Whyalla Campus of the
University of South Australia.
Sister cities
Whyalla has two sister cities, according to the
Australian Sister Cities Association.
Gallery
Image:Whyalla-ore-handling.JPG|Ore handling at the port, Whyalla
Image:Whyalla-port.JPG|Port facility, Whyalla
Image:Whyalla-fortifications.JPG|Fortifications at Hummock Hill, Whyalla
Image:Whyalla-coast.JPG|View of the coast from the Hummock Hill lookout, Whyalla
Image:Whyalla-town-view.JPG|View across Whyalla from the Hummock Hill lookout, Whyalla
Image:Whyalla-main-street-view.JPG|Looking towards the main street from Hummock Hill lookout, Whyalla
Further Information
Get more info on 'Whyalla'.
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