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Port Broughton, South Australia

town in South Australia

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJan 21, 2026
Entity authorityQ576377
Source-derived summary

Port Broughton is a small South Australian town located at the northern extent of the Yorke Peninsula on the east coast of Spencer Gulf. It is situated about 170 km north-west of Adelaide, and 56 km south of Port Pirie. At the 2016 census, the town of Port Broughton had a population of 1,034.

The close proximity to Adelaide (two hours' drive) makes it a popular tourist destination, with the number of people in town swelling to over 4,000 in the summer holidays.

History

The land around Port Broughton was initially used for grazing, however the local conditions were unsuitable and the land was divided up into acre lots and sold.

Port Broughton was surveyed in 1871 to service the surrounding wheat and barley growers on the recommendation of Captain Henry Dale. It is on a sheltered inlet called Mundoora Arm Inlet at the extreme northern end of Yorke Peninsula. The town is named after the Broughton River (named by Edward John Eyre after William Broughton), the mouth of which is about 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of the township.

Transport

Built in 1876, the T-shaped jetty was serviced by an isolated 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) narrow gauge railway line from Mundoora, 16 km inland and uphill. The Port Broughton railway line, officially opened on 11 March 1876, brought the grain down to the port.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Port Broughton, South Australia” as town in South Australia. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Port, Broughton and South.

Editorial reviewMost useful as a place-based finding aid connecting the present description to earlier jurisdictions, maps and built evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2016, 1871, 1876—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Port, Broughton and South providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Port Broughton, South Australia”, the useful work is to connect “town in South Australia” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q576377. Authority coordinates are -33.583, 137.936. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2016, 1871 and 1876.

Critical limits

A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Port Broughton, South Australia”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Port Broughton, South Australia primary sources, Port Broughton, South Australia archive and Port research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Port Broughton, South Australia”?
  2. Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
  3. Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Port Broughton, South Australia” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.