Murray Bridge

Murray Bridge (formerly Mobilong and Edwards Crossing) is a city in the Australian state of South Australia, located 78 kilometres (48 mi) east-southeast of the state's capital city, Adelaide, and 77 kilometres (48 mi) north of the town of Meningie.

Murray Bridge (formerly Mobilong and Edwards Crossing) is a city in the Australian state of South Australia, located 78 kilometres (48 mi) east-southeast of the state's capital city, Adelaide, and 77 kilometres (48 mi) north of the town of Meningie. The city had an urban population of approximately 18,779 as at June 2018, making it the fifth most populous city in the state after Adelaide, Mount Gambier, Gawler and Whyalla.

The city is called Pomberuk by the traditional owners of the land, the Ngarrindjeri people. It was later known as Mobilong and later as Edwards Crossing, before being renamed as Murray Bridge in 1924, deriving its name from the road and railway crossings over the Murray River. The city is situated on the Princes Highway, the main road transport link between Adelaide and Melbourne.

The city services a farming area including dairy, pigs, chickens, cereal crops and vegetables (including "stay crisp lettuces").

Murray Bridge is in the traditional lands of the Ngarrindjeri people, who refer to Murray Bridge as Pomberuk. The first European explorer was Charles Sturt who camped there on 8 February 1830.

The first road bridge across the lower Murray was known as The Murray Bridge and completed at Edwards's Crossing in 1879. To distinguish this bridge with the many other bridges that cross the Murray River, this bridge is known as the Murray River road bridge, Murray Bridge.The bridge also became a shared road and rail bridge in 1886 until the separate rail bridge was completed in 1925. The bridge was designed for 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) rail track gauge though in actuality, only 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) gauge trains ever used it.

The District Council of Mobilong was established in 1884 bringing local government to the township, then known as Mobilong, and the surrounding land within the Hundred of Mobilong. By 1923, the council had absorbed the southern two-thirds of the neighbouring Hundred of Burdett across the river, the Hundred of Ettrick further east, and part of the Hundred of Brinkley to the south. The Mobilong township by then had its own ward. The township seceded from Mobilong council in 1924, calling itself the Corporate Town of Murray Bridge, effectively renaming the township. In 1977 the two local councils recombined as the District Council of Murray Bridge.

In 1979 the Swanport Bridge, carrying the South Eastern Freeway across the Murray River was completed 5 kilometres (3 mi) downstream, removing most through traffic from the historic Murray Bridge.

In 1993 the local municipal council crossed a population threshold enabling it to be declared a city, the Rural City of Murray Bridge. The bounded locality of Murray Bridge remained the majority population centre and seat of the city council.

Murray Bridge contains a number of heritage-listed sites, including the Murray Bridge Transport Precinct, listed on the South Australian Heritage Register.