Renmark, South Australia
Renmark is a town in South Australia, it belongs to the local government area ( LGA) Renmark Paringa Council and is located in the Riverland region dominated by agriculture, named after the Murray River. The town's name comes from an Aboriginal language and means " red mud".
Geography
Renmark is located about 250 kilometers northeast of Adelaide near the border with Victoria. The Sturt Highway between Adelaide and Sydney runs through the town.
History
Aborigines settled on the Murray River since however least 40,000 years. Captain Charles Sturt was the first European who explored the area in January 1830, when he drove on the Murray River and finally reached the Lake Alexandrina. In 1851, grazing was reported in the area of the later town Renmark first time. The settlement began to grow from 1887 after an irrigation system by George and William Chaffey was created, where the waters of the Murray was out in open channels in the city. So orchards could be established. In the period 1893-1904 the site by the Renmark Irrigation Trust, a group of local farmers, was administered. In 1904, the District of Hamley was founded with the center Renmark. In the late 1960s the open irrigation channels were replaced by closed pipes.
Economy
Today, the area is known for the cultivation of grapes, citrus fruits, tomatoes, various vegetables, wheat, cotton, pistachios and almonds.
Sons and daughters of the town
- Dean Semler, cinematographer and Oscar winner
- Rob Bredl, documentary