This book is part of the Barbara Deverson Collection and is shelved in that Collection's bookshelves.
Peterborough developed relatively late in the history of South Australia. Land was selected in the district and purchased from the government in 1875. It was, as Johann Koch one of the first settlers was to observe, 'a wild place and kangaroos were swarming'.
Four years later a public meeting was held and the first building in the town was constructed. There was news that the town would soon be connected to the mines in Broken Hill by a railway. One of the local landowners, Peter Doecke, decided to cut up his land and sell at auction. So successful was the auction that land which had been virtually useless a few years earlier was sold at a huge profit. By the end of the first day Doecke had sold 33 acres for £1700. Two years earlier he had not been able to sell it for £1 an acre. On the basis of this success the town was named after Doecke and became 'Petersburg'.
The change of the town's name occurred in 1917 when anti-German sentiment was so strong that the Nomenclature Act insisted that all German-sounding names be changed. It then became Peterborough and never changed back.
Local notes
Peterborough developed relatively late in the history of South Australia. Land was selected in the district and purchased from the government in 1875. It was, as Johann Koch one of the first settlers was to observe, 'a wild place and kangaroos were swarming'.
Four years later a public meeting was held and the first building in the town was constructed. There was news that the town would soon be connected to the mines in Broken Hill by a railway. One of the local landowners, Peter Doecke, decided to cut up his land and sell at auction. So successful was the auction that land which had been virtually useless a few years earlier was sold at a huge profit. By the end of the first day Doecke had sold 33 acres for £1700. Two years earlier he had not been able to sell it for £1 an acre. On the basis of this success the town was named after Doecke and became 'Petersburg'.
The change of the town's name occurred in 1917 when anti-German sentiment was so strong that the Nomenclature Act insisted that all German-sounding names be changed. It then became Peterborough and never changed back.