Eudunda
Postcode: 5374
Eudunda is a rural town in South Australia, 115 kilometres northeast of Adelaide. Eudunda township was established in 1870 after settlers began moving into the area throughout the 1860s. The founder of Eudunda was John Henry Hannan who owned the land which was surveyed and divided for sale. Eudunda was the birthplace of world renowned author Colin Thiele, whose sculpture can be found in the Centenary Gardens.
Eudunda is in the Regional Council of Goyder local government area, the South Australian House of Assembly electoral district of Stuart and the Australian House of Representatives Division of Grey.
Eudunda township was established in 1870 after settlers began moving into the area throughout the 1860s. The founder of Eudunda was John Henry Hannan who owned the land which was surveyed and divided for sale. At this time cattle and horses were being moved to South Australia from western Queensland and the town became a popular watering hole for the herds and the drovers who had travelled down Cooper Creek. Their ultimate destination was Kapunda which, at the time, was a township effectively owned by Sir Sidney Kidman. At one point 3000 horses were sold in Kapunda in an auction which lasted for a week. All of the horses were the property of Kidman and many of them had been brought to the town from his property holdings in western NSW, South Australia and western Queensland.
For many South Australians the town is known as the home of the state’s first farming co-operative. At its height the Eudunda Farmers Co-operative Society Ltd had 62 branches. It is now part of the IGA group of supermarkets. The co-op started in the 1890s when a group of German farmers met at Manns Hotel and decided that they should work together. The idea was that the co-operative could transport and sell timber and could collectively buy goods with the profits. Thus the local storekeepers, who were prone to charging large interest rates, could be by-passed.