Purnong, South Australia

Town in South Australia

34°51′15″S 139°37′25″E / 34.8542°S 139.6237°E / -34.8542; 139.6237Population55 (SAL 2021)^[1]Postcode(s)5238Location

115 km (71 mi) E of Adelaide
32 km (20 mi) NE of Mannum

LGA(s)Mid Murray CouncilState electorate(s)Chaffey Federal division(s)Barker

Localities around Purnong:
Walker Flat	Forster	Nildottie
Caurnamont	Purnong	Claypans
	Bowhill

Purnong or Purnong Landing is the location of a cable ferry across the Murray River upstream of Mannum.^[2] The town is on the cliffs above the left (eastern) bank of the river. It is 32 kilometres (20 mi) by road from Mannum on the west side of the Murray, and 40 kilometres (25 mi) on the east side.

The town was surveyed in 1911 and named for an Aboriginal word meaning at the wide place.^[3]^[4] The ferry crossing is the shortest in South Australia, but there are lagoons adjacent to the river.

Purnong Primary School closed in December 1983.^[5]

References

^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Purnong (suburb and locality)". Australian Census 2021 QuickStats. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
^ "Ferry locations and operational status". Government of South Australia. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
^ "Placename Details: Purnong". Government of South Australia Department of Planning, transport and Infrastructure. 4 March 2010. SA0057175. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
^ Manning Index of Place Names of South Australia State Library of South Australia. Retrieved 12 September 2018.
^ Matthews, Penny (1986), South Australia, the civic record, 1836-1986, Wakefield Press, pp. 510–514, ISBN 978-0-949268-82-2