Address & Contact
Oodnadatta Track
William Creek SA 5710
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Near this location is Strangways Siding with nothing much left, but take the nearby rough bulldusty track up a hill to an impressive ruined site that was once the Strangeways Telegraph Repeater Station. There are stone-walled stock pens, a huge stone-walled water tank that looks more like a church until you find it has no door, and other crumbling ruins. This site has also come under protection by a conservation group but for tourists all this means is stepping through gate in a rabbit proof fence.
Strangways was the site of the first homestead on the pastoral property of the same name (it’s now called ‘Anna Creek’ and is the biggest pastoral station in the world). Strangways was sold to the South Australian government in 1870, and became a repeater station on the Overland Telegraph Line. At its peak, it was a small village with a number of buildings. The site was selected as it was next to a mound spring. This mound spring, unfortunately, is now dry. The station was closed down in 1896 and moved to William Creek.
For visitors, you can enjoy strolling amongst a protected heritage site with ruins of the stone telegraph station, a cemetery, and take the mound springs walk. The mound springs have stopped flowing but the area is well worth a visit.
The name is from Henry Bull Templar Strangways - the SA Premier in 1870 when the Telegraph line construction began.
See the book - Charles Todd's Magnificent Obsession.
