Gumeracha

Gumeracha is a town in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia, located on the Adelaide-Mannum Road.

Gumeracha is a town in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia, located on the Adelaide-Mannum Road. It is located in the Adelaide Hills Council local government area on the south bank of the upper River Torrens. At the 2006 census, Gumeracha had a population of 731.The region relies heavily on grazing, dairying, grape growing, orchards and market gardening.

The original inhabitants of the area were the Peramangk people, and the name "Gumeracha" derives from an Aboriginal word meaning "fine waterhole".The area was one of the earliest settled by Europeans in South Australia. First to explore the district were Dr George Imlay and John Hill, on 24 January 1838. In 1839, the South Australia Company took up a parcel of land, on which the settlements of Gumeracha, Kenton Valley and Forreston developed. The company established a district headquarters and opened it up for sheep grazing.

In 1839, William Beavis Randell built his home, Tinmath, at Kenton Park, and built a flour mill in the 1840s. The estate housed his large family, his workforce and their families. In 1846, Randell donated land and funds for a church, and the Salem Baptist Church was built - the oldest Baptist church still in use in South Australia. The surrounding area, meanwhile, had become an agricultural centre, and the Gumeracha Farmers' Society held annual shows.

In 1853, the District Council of Talunga was established to administer the Hundred of Talunga, including in large part the early Adelaide Hills pioneering community that would become Gumeracha. In 1855, Randell allocated land for a township and by 1860 the town was laid out. Commercial businesses sprang up on the main street, and many fine buildings were erected, including the post office, police station and courthouse (1864), Gumeracha Institute, l ibrary and town hall (1909), a butter factory (1889), a school, a hospital, a coach-house, hotels, churches and business houses. Most of the buildings in use at that time still stand. William Beavis Randell's son, William Richard Randell, built the first Murray River paddlesteamer in Gumeracha in 1852.

In 1935, the District Council of Gumeracha replaced Talunga council to administer a broader area around the town, centred at Gumeracha, the main point of population in that part of the Adelaide Hills.