The town of Burra began in 1846 as the company town of Kooringa surveyed and built for the South Australian Mining Association. It was the first such company town in Australia and remained so until the closure of the mine. Copper was discovered in the area in 1845 and the Burra Burra Copper Mine formed in 1848. For 15 years the mine supplied 89% of South Australia's and 5% of the world's copper. The mine closed in 1877, and then was re-opened briefly during the 20^th century. Along with the copper mine at Kapunda the Burra mines were largely responsible for saving South Australia from financial ruin in the 1850s.

The mine was managed by Henry Ayers, later Sir Henry Ayers and a Premier of South Australia. The Mining Association held the town of Kooringa as a monopoly and this was progressively side-stepped by the survey further north of a number of government and private towns. The Mining Association opposed this and when land in Redruth was put up for sale on 29 August 1849, outbid small land buyers by forcing up prices in what Auhl has called 'a travesty of justice for the miners'.

The township of Graham was laid out in 1874 under instructions from Henry Ayers and consisted of only 21 allotments on six acres. It was named 'Graham' after J B Graham, the largest shareholder in the Mining Association. There were already several buildings in place including the Smelters Arms Hotel, a hospital and the mine assayer's house. When the land went on sale in April 1875 however there was little demand.

In 1876 the individual townships--Redruth, Llwchwr, Aberdeen, Graham and Hampton--were formed into the Corporation of the Town of Burra, but retained their identity until 1940, when the name Burra was adopted.

Today Burra is the regional centre for the farming community and a popular tourist destination.

Permission to use this item for any purpose, including publishing, is not required from the State Library under these conditions of use.

Buy a high resolution copy.