1845

August. Shepherds William Streair and Thomas Pickett discover outcrops of copper close to the Burra Burra Creek. Special Survey of 20,000 acres undertaken and divided between South Australian Mining Association and Princess Royal Mining Association

September 29 - South Australian Mining Association begins mining operations at the Burra Burra Mine.

1846

Samuel Stocks jnr. Appointed Resident Director.

Dr Ferdinand Von Sommer and then Captain Ey act as Superintendents.

Governor Robe visits and goes underground.

Bon Accord Mining Company begins mining operations adjoining the Burra Burra Mine.

1847

January. Captain Henry Roach of Cornwall appointed Superintendent of the Burra Burra Mine.

First smelting operations fail.

1848

Mine employs 567

Miners strike for a week and then later stage an unsuccessful strike over wages from November to January 1849

Mine pays a dividend of 600%

Foundation stone of Patent Copper Co. Smelters laid n December

The Gulf Road initiated to Port Wakefield.

1849

Apoinga Smelter takes Burra ore

Patent Copper Company (later called the English & Australian Copper Company) begin smelting ore at Burra using Newcastle coal.

Roach’s Engine house completed and pumping begins in October.

Dividends affected by 1848-49 strike: 2 of 100%.

1850

Dividends paid reached a staggering 800%.

1851

Workforce at the mine exceeds 1,000 with 378 at the smelting works and other employee of the smelting works bring their total to about 1,000.

Peacock’s Engine House built.

Discovery of gold in eastern states.

Patent Copper Co. reorganised as English and Australian Copper Co.

November - Death of Thomas Pickett, discoverer of the Burra Burra Mine.

1852

Miners etc. desert the district for Victoria.

Schneider’s Engine transported to Burra and installed

Employees drop to under 100.

Ayers keeps his officers by substantially raising salaries.

Pumping ceases in October: mine flooded.

1853

Mine virtually at a standstill

Roach’s Engine House dismantled

English and Australian Copper Company import mules from South America.

1854

Men slowly return but by April work force still only 191 and only 30 underground.

Decision to restart the mine in December.

1855

Schneider’s Engine begins to pump out the mine in January.

1856

South Australian Mining Association to establish a candle factory near the slaughterhouse to satisfy its need for 53 tons of candles per year.

1857

Schneider’s pump proves inadequate.

Railway reaches Gawler.

The Gulf Road closes.

1858

Morphett’s Engine House built.

William Woollacott leaves Adelaide with the engine for Morphett’s Engine House.

1859

This was the peak year for employment with 1208 men and boys at work.  The mine paid £178,900 in wages and expenses, but the cost were rising as the mine deepened.  At the same time the price of copper was falling.  Having peaked at £126 per ton in 1858, it was £112 per ton in1859 and by 1861 had fallen to £87 per ton in Adelaide.  Even more significantly the 1858 profit per ton of £4-8-3 was a mere £1-14-8 the following year.

Ayers reduced the wages of tutworkers to 6/- a day and cut all but essential tutwork.  Similar cuts in payments were ordered for tributers.  Expenditure of repairs etc. was cut to a minimum.

William Woollacott arrives with the new engine.

Installation runs all through the year.

The wage bill peaks at £178,900.

Employment at the mine exceeds 1,200

Profits per ton begin to fall

1860

Miners began to move to the new fields of Wallaroo and Moonta Mines. 

Morphett’s engine  begins pumping on 1 March

Fire in the mine kills two miners

1861

Migration to Wallaroo and Moonta continued and others also headed to mines in Queensland and NSW as well as to smaller mines north of Burra in the Flinders Ranges etc.

Port Adelaide Smelting Works begin.

Burra Smelting confined to summer month.

Miners begin to leave for Yorke Peninsula and elsewhere.

1862

Schneider’s Engine is stopped.

Workforce at the mine is cut to 631 and the wages bill is almost halved.

Exodus of miners continues

1863

The Burra ore was still averaging 23% copper compared with Moonta’s 18%, but getting it was costing £10-2-1 per ton against £7-15-7 for the latter’s.  SAMA was pulling down cottages when their tenants departed.  Kooringa was still all leasehold and there were few businesses in substantial premises.

Trouble looms as Burra ore now cost £10-2-1 per ton to raise compared with £4-15-7 a ton at Moonta.

1864

For a while copper rose to £110 per ton and a major strike at the Yorke Peninsula mines saw some miners return to Burra.

Smelting at Burra further reduced.

The dividend of 300% proves to be the last regular dividend paid.

1865

By July SAMA as losing £800-£I,000 per month. The population of the combined towns was still about 4,000, by which time Moonta had reached 4,000 and the three Yorke Peninsula towns had about 10,000 people in all.

Yorke Peninsula mines continue to grow and outflow of Burra’s population continues.

1866

The copper price slumped by £8 per ton. On 19 February Ayers informed Captain roach that all operations would cease and a letter dismissed all officers from the end of March. 1867 became a year of desperation with mass unemployment in Burra and Adelaide. There was no unemployment relief except for a meager ration for families without an able bodied man in residence. Though wages had been cut to a low 6/- a day, Ayers thought 4/- a day would be adequate. In Burra people left, cottages were demolished and shops and businesses were abandoned. To make matters worse the wool producers were in the grip of a drought, which extended from 1864 to September 1869 on the eastern plains.

In fact, bad as it was, the situation was not quite as bad as the original notice had suggested.  By the middle of the year the mine was still employing about 200 to dress low-grade ore previously discarded, but Captain Roach had returned to Adelaide and the accountant Mr. Challoner was running the mine on orders from Ayers.  The mine was maintained on standby with the pump at Morphett’s Shaft still keeping the mine free of water.  Grave’s Engine House was under construction with a new pump ordered from Cornwall.

Graves Shaft Burra Mine still employing over 600 and population of town almost 4000.

1867

Underground mining suspended in February with the loss of over 500 jobs.

Captain Roach, William Cahlloner (Mine Accountant) and William Elphick (Mine assayer) given 1 month’s notice. Parliament approves extension of railway to Burra.

1868

John Darlington, a mining engineer with extensive experience of the then new open-cut mining system, arrived in Adelaide in June and the following month went to Burra to assess its open-cut prospects.  He found a mine in soft clayey ground that needed extensive and costly timbering.  In September he recommended trying open-cut mining as an economic alternative.  Ayers and three directors: G.S. Kingston, John Beck and Archibald Jaffery, went to Burra and accepted the recommendation.

Graves engine House completed but the engine order was cancelled. Building never used.

Decision made to convert to open cut.

1869

Work on the material in the Burra Creek stopped and a further 200 jobs went.  By April all extraction work had ceased.  A 363 ton stockpile was sold off and by October the workforce had fallen from 1,200 to 46. (11 mechanics, 19 miners, 7 labourers, 4 boys and 5 officers.) Wages fell from £130,000 per annum to just £1,313-6-8 for the six months to March 1870.  The Burra population fell from c.5,480 to 3,400 and occupied houses from 1225 to 877.

The year largely passed in ordering and obtaining the necessary machinery.  In April in its 24th Annual Report SAMA decided to make properties in Kooringa available for freehold sale as their 21 year leases expired.

Workforce reduced to 46 of whom 19 were miners.

1870

In January Henry Ayers left with his family for England and his son, 25 year old Harry Lockett Ayers, became Acting Secretary of SAMA.  William Challoner continued as chief accountant and superintendent of the mine.  (At £32 per month) William Swanborough was retained as supervisor of the open-cut operations. (At £25 per month) By June operations at the open-cut were underway and good results were expected.

By October 10,000 wagons, or 14,000 tons had been excavated and sent to the tip some 100’ beyond the dressing tower and dressing was expected to begin in six weeks.  The arrangements had cost some £25,000.  Burra became

Open cutting of Burra Burra Mine began, Australia’s first open-cut mine.  The timber recovered from the old workings during the operations of the open-cut was used to fuel the pump engine and the water was used to separate the ore from the waste after it had been pounded to the consistency of flour.

1871

By the middle of the year friction between Challoner and Swansborough which saw Challoner confirmed as the superior officer, but poor results saw him being asked to resign by October.  After 25 years service as accountant and two as mine manager SAMA was not even represented at his farewell dinner in Burra in December.  As far as getting material out of the open-cut was concerned all was going well.

Ulooloo goldfield discovered

1872

The problem that began to worry the directors were multiplying.

(a) Little orey stuff was being discovered by October the previous six months had produced only 6,974 tons of orey stuff to 37,174 tons of attle (waste).

(b) Morphett’s Shaft was producing 96,000 gallons of water per hour, but this was proving inadequate for washing the amount of ore and new 20” lifts had to be installed.

(c) The new dressing tower proved unsatisfactory and the old stamps had to be reintroduced.  A new 15 head battery was ordered.

(d) Dressing machinery tried at Moonta with success was tried, but the Burra ores proved very hard to separate from their waste.

The receipts on ore raised were                        10,426

Receipts from rent were                                      2,024

                                                                      £12,450

Expenses were                                                 13,661

Overall loss was                                               £1,211

The first dividend since 1864 was paid from accumulated funds and proved to be the last before the mine closed.

1873

To assist in the dressing operations a new 24’ x 4’ water wheel was constructed.  The failure of the dressing machinery to deliver satisfaction saw Captain Robert Sanders take over from Swansborough.  As the water level dropped to the 40 fathom and then the 50 fathom level, some underground work was resumed.  Small profits made 1873-76 went into capital investment in new machinery.

1876

By this time tutworkers were sinking new shafts, deepening old ones and driving

new levels.  39 tributers were at work and they raised 254 tons of good ore.  By October the workforce was back to 307 of which 102 were in the traditional categories of tutworkers and tributers.  Haulage from the open-cut continued to be satisfactory, but ore separation remained a difficulty.  Six months in this year saw the open-cut yield 22,790 tons of deads, 26,382 tons of orey stuff and 1,156 tons of old timber.

Captain Sanders reports remained consistently optimistic, but in fact no new lodes of significance were being discovered.

1877

Morphett’s Shaft was being pushed towards 100 fathoms, with drives at different levels in an attempt to find new lodes, but to no avail.  The cost of production had risen so that the mine was losing £12-17-0 on each ton of ore.  The cost of production had almost doubled since 1868.  the price of copper was low and dropped to less than £80 a ton.

In August the five SAMA directors: Sir George Strickland Kingston, John Beck, Henry Rymill, The Hon. William Morgan MLC, and James Francis Wigley, visited the mine.  After this Sir Henry Ayers, secretary, wrote to Captain Sanders instructing extreme economy or the closure of the mine would be considered.  Economies had no answer in the face of rising production costs and a falling copper price.

In September the miners were finally given a week’s notice and work ceased on 29 September 1877 with the loss of 300 jobs.

The exploratory work in Morphett’s Shaft had just reached 100 fathoms.  The mine offices received one month’s notice, Captain Sanders being dismissed with all the others.  About the 10 October there was a final inspection at the bottom of Morphett’s Shaft by Captain Osborne, Manager of Kapunda Mine, Captain Samuel Higgs, Manager of Wallaroo Mine and Captain Hancock, Superintendent of Moonta Mine.  Their reports were non-committal.

The pump at Morphett’s Shaft was stopped in the last week of October and the waters began to rise in the mine.

The mine was put into mothballs to be reopened when copper prices rose, but the sale of plant and equipment in November made it clear that the directors did not expect this to be any time soon.

September 29 - Burra Burra Mine closed after 32 years.

1880

The lode found when St. Mary’s foundations were dug is briefly searched for.

1881

News that the Mine had been sold in England for £100,000 proved to be false.

1882

Captain Killicoat and John Drew unsuccessfully negotiate to buy the Mine.

1884

Negotiations with a Sydney syndicate are reported.

1886

Two tributors are working a surface pitch.

1887

Two tributors are making wages.

1888

A local syndicate involving C. Drew, J. Dunstan Jun., E.C. Lockyer, W.R. Ridgway & F.W. Holder negotiate to buy the Mine.  They are told nothing can be done as the mine is under offer in London.  Tributors now number 34 men and boys and rising.  In December Sir Henry Ayers advised the mine has been sold in London.

1889

The Copper Syndicate fail, copper galls to £40 per ton, settlement of the sale on 13 March fails to take place.

Numbers working on tribute fall to “several”.

1890

About 9 tributors work surface material.

1891

Mr Paynter installs equipment to treat the slagheap.  Work begins in October.

1892

Copper prices fall and in February Mr. Paynter stops crushing and by April his plant is for sale.

SAMA launches litigation related to the failed sale of 1889.

1897

SAMA decides on some exploratory boring which begins in November under Mr. Leahy.

1898

Boring at Morphett’s shaft exceeds 1000’.

1899

Tributors continue to work at the mine.  Mr Leahy sinks a second shaft but boring ceases in November.

Joe Ford secures a portion of the site and sinks a shaft.

Copper at £75 per ton.  Hon. J. Martin MLC of Gawler backs the Burra Slag Extraction Co which take an 8 year lease to treat the slag.  Trial crushings are unde way by November.

1900

An Adelaide based syndicate begins negotiations to buy the mine.

In January the Burra Slag Extraction Co. Installs electric arc lights and works three shifts.

1901

The Adelaide syndicate leads to floating of the Burra Burra Copper Co., which buys the Mine.  In march the Premier, F. W. Holder, and other politicians visit the works.

1902

Burra Slag Extraction Co. closes for a month due to low copper prices.  Work resumed in February, ceased briefly in May but hen wen ton till all the slag was treated by the end of October.

Burra Burra Copper Co. lacked developmental capital.  It hoped to accumulate capital from royalties from Elder, Smith and F. H. Snow’s Electro-magnetic, Separation Co. which would treat tailings at the Mine.

1903

Burra Burra Copper Co. doing very little: employing about 7 miners. Electro Magnetic Separation Co. began work in July after many problems.

In December Burra Burra Copper Co. called tenders for a shaft at Bunce’s.

1904

By February the Electro-Magnetic process had failed.  By May the plant was being demolished and so was the Burra Slag Extraction Co. plant.

Burra Burra Copper Co. was employing about 22 men at various sites but most work was at a shaft near Peacocks air shaft.  Several tributors continue to work pitches but with little success.

1905

Burra Burra Copper Company lacked the funds to dewater the mine A public meeting urged Government aid.  The Government agreed to send a pump from Sliding Rock.  In May the Directors advised the mine was under offer to a London Company.

In November C.A. Smith & Co. contracted to lower the water 25 to 50ft.

1906

Pumping finally began in may and the pool level dropped 8 to 10 feet but falling share prices for Burra Burra Copper Company showed a public lack of confidence.  Copper reached £90 per ton and then £100+.

1907

In January the negotiations with an Adelaide-Melbourne syndicate failed.  Pumping ceased.  Some tributors continued.

The Burra Copper Slag Smelting Co. brought in a smelter from Leigh Creek in January to re-smelt the slag from the Burra Slag Extraction Co.  It began in April, had problems in May and was abandoned in Jun.

Mr Horn took an option on the Mine to run to 13 May and later he took a one sixth interest and Great Fingall Consolidated an five sixth interest in a 9 month option.

As a consequence more exploratory boring was undertaken buy copper prices began to fall about £66 per ton in September.

1908

The Kooringa Prospecting Syndicate (Great Fingall and Horn etc) decided by February that the 4 bores produced little suggestion of success and with copper at £61 per ton decided not to proceed.

1909 -1911

Tributors in small numbers operated n the mine and some along the creek working tailings and waste.

1912

The old mine owners South Australian Mining Association in liquidation sold off about 20 lots of the reaming properties n and around Kooringa and Graham.

1913

A further SAMA sale of all remaining properties in and around the town.

1916

Burra Burra Copper Company in January sold its Burra Mine properties.  After the auction the Mine block itself was sold to A. J. McBride for £3000 for 262 cares.  It is expected the tailings will be treated.  Experiments to treat tailings by the du Faur process were undertaken.

1917

English and Australian Copper Co. sells its holdings  in Burra in six lots in April.

1921

Chimney stack for Morphett’s Engine House blown up for building stone.

1922

Further tests by du Faur on treatment of tailings.

1925

Morphett’s Engine House, shaft etc. destroyed by fire by young boys smoking our rabbits.

1836

December 28 - Proclamation of the province of South Australia.

1839

December - Discovery and naming of Mt. Bryan by the Governor, Lt. Col. George Gawler.

1843

Captain E.C. Frome, Surveyor-General, on an expedition northwards, sketches a shepherd's hut on the 'Burra Burra Creek'.

1845

Town site chosen in October, first streets laid out and sites for 12 cottages marked in Thames Street.

Town named Cooringa which soon came to be spelled Kooringa

1846

S. Stocks jun. and G.S. Kingston lay out 65 allotments of ½ acre in Kooringa with 3 blocks of 2½ acres for company cottages. First cottages ready to roof by April. First police arrive in September; station and stables built. Population December:  238 men, 70 women, 160 children. Burra Hotel (1st) built: with adjoining brewery.

Mr and Mrs Jolly open 1st school on allotment 73 Commercial Street.

1847

First church built: Kooringa Wesleyan Chapel

Paxton Square begun

Creek dwellings extend along several miles of creek and house 400-500

Miners Arms Hotel

Population reaches c.1500

1848

Minor flooding of dug-outs: a warning

Kooringa Wesleyan Day School opens

1849

Original Bible Christian Chapel opened in December

St Mary’s on Limestone Hill built

Kooringa Anglican Parochial School opened

Redruth allotments sold but SAMA buys 77 of the 120 at highly inflated prices

Sale of Aberdeen unsuccessful: less than 20 of 144 allotment sold

Smelter’s Home Hotel opens

Kooringa Wesleyan Chapel enlarged to seat 450

Burra Oddfellows Lodge (MU) established

1850

Congregation Church opened by Rev. T.Q. Stow

Baptists granted allotment 295 Kooringa

Town’s first public meeting discusses proposed SA constitution

Flash flood enters over 80 dug-out houses in February

Original Bridge Street Bridge erected

Kooringa Primitive Methodist Church erected

Sod Hut Inn opens

William Cawthorne draws the only picture of the dugouts in use

1851

S.A. Census: 1800 of 4,403 persons in the Special Survey lived in an estimated 600 dug-out houses.

Two major flood spell the end of dug-out housing

10th July first election in Burra: for the SA Legislative Council

Fist Redruth Wesleyan Chapel erected

1852

Men leave for Victorian Gold Fields

Large meeting of Ngadjuri, encouraged by white departures

White Hart Hotel begins

1853

The town at a standstill: many houses empty and dilapidated some with broken windows and doors agape, shops shuttered and abandoned.

1854

Gradual return of men form Victoria and new migrants

Town slowly reborn

Pig and Whistle Hotel and Cross Roads Inn Hotel open

1855

Welsh congregation takes over the Congregational Church

Township of Llwchwr offered for sale

Bushman’s Home Hotel

1856

Redruth Gaol completed

Redruth Primitive Methodist Zion Chapel built

1857

Redruth Court House erected

First Catholic school and chapel on allotment 41 Kooringa

Wesleyan Day School re-opens

Town of Hampton laid out

Burra Burra Miner’s and Mechanics Institute opened

1858

Townships of Millerton, Nelson, Yarwood, Roachtown, Williamston, Copperhouse and Lostwithiel laid out

Court House Hotel opens

Great Wesleyan revival

1859

Second Bible Christian Chapel built

Telegraph and Post Office built

National Bank opens in April

The Great Flood: January 25th

Foundation stone of the never completed Anglican church of st Saviours, Redruth laid

Townships of Charleston, St Blazey and Westbury laid out

Cricket Club formed

Foresters Lodge founded

1860

Welsh Chapel becomes the United Presbyterian Church

Telegraph office opens

Original Redruth Bridge built

1861

Post Office combined with telegraph office

Eastern mail service begins: Kooringa to Duffield’s Well

Exodus of miners to Yorke Peninsula and elsewhere begins

National Bank building completed

1862

John McDouall Stuart and party arrive and stay overnight at Burra on their return journey across Australia.

Departures of miners continues

Wesleyan revival under Rev. Thomas Lloyd and Bible Christian revival under Rev. Joseph Hancock

1863

SAMA gives £10 towards street repairs

For first time the road is made from Burra Hotel (now the hospital) to the Commercial Street Bridge

1864

Town depressed with shops closed and many houses unoccupied

Burra Grammar School opens on site of Congregational/Presbyterian Church

F.R. White’s Commercial School opens

1865

Princess Royal Homestead built. Designed by Edmund Wright

Rechabite Lodge established

1866

In December, while Ayers was premier of the colony, a vital decision for the town’s future was taken.  Act No 20 of 1867 authorised the construction of the Forrester’s (i.e. Tarlee) to Burra Railway.  This encouraged some land north of Burra to be converted from grazing to agriculture.

1867

Town further depressed when underground mining ceases with loss of over 500 jobs

Parliament approves extension of the railway to Burra

1869

The passage of the Waste Land Amendment Act (Generally referred to as the Stangways act) permitted purchase of land in blocks of up to 640 acres on credit.  This resulted in a rush of farmers to the district as some areas to the north of the town and later to the east became available for closer settlement.  This was important for the town’s survival when the mine closed.  The district produced 18,633 bushels of wheat in 1868, but in 1870 this had increased to 108,931 bushels and the next couple of years were to see the area under wheat double.

Town population has fallen from a peak of 5480 to 3,400

Occupied house fallen 1225 to 877

SAMA decides to sell freehold properties in Kooringa

Mine workforce 46

Strangway’s Act boosts farming in the district

1870

Railway to Burra completed and the first train arrives.

On the agricultural front rabbits arrived in this year and multiplied rapidly to become a plague that would soon threaten the survival of pastoralist and wheat farmer alike.

Open cut mining begins to steady the decline

1871

First ploughing match in Burra

1872

New Aberdeen laid out

First Burra District Council formed.

1873

Samuel Drew & Co. build wholesale store at Aberdeen saleyards.

1874

Building boom sees erection of:

Roach’s Flour Mill in Graham

Butterworth’s Flour Mill in New Aberdeen

Redruth Wesleyan Church

Aberdeen branch of Bank of Australasia

Bon Accord Hotel

St Joseph’s Church

Kooringa Police Station

Tiver’s Store Aberdeen

New buildings - Bon Accord Hotel, St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, Redruth Wesleyan Church, Flour Mills (Roach. Butterworth), The Institute

1875

By this year rabbits were in plague numbers.  In some areas to the east pastoralists were losing sheep due to starvation as a consequence of rabbits and some farmers were reaping less wheat than they sowed.

Welcome to explorer John Forrest.

Mining Association offers Burra Hotel to Council for a hospital.

1876

June 30 - Burra's first newspaper Burra News and Northern Mail (later the Burra Record) printed.

Welcome to explorer Ernest Giles.

Proclamation of first Corporation of Town of Burra.

Commercial Hotel completed.

February 18, three railway employees were killed as a train plunged into a 20 ft. gap caused by a washaway at Spring Bank, near Burra.

1877

Burra's first Agricultural Show.

Burra Hospital opened and Foundation Stone of Burra Model (Primary) School laid on same day.

1878

January. Burra Model (Primary) School opens.

May Extension of railway to Hallett.

Council orders Ranger to destroy goats in streets.

1879

Redruth Bridge and Kooringa Bridge (also known as Commercial Street Bridge, Kingston Street Bridge, Black Bridge and Red Bridge) open for traffic.

St. Mary's Church of England completed.

1880

Planting of trees along Burra Creek. Railway extended to Terowie.

Larrikinism of youths reaching 'alarming proportions'.

Present Royal Exchange Hotel replaces one destroyed by fire (Aberdeen).

1881

Public pump and trough in Market Square in use.

Essington Lewis born in Burra.

Victoria Park granted to Corporation by South Australian Mining Association.

1882

Planting of trees around Victoria Park.

Dr. Brummit's house (next to Institute) lit by gas.

St. Mary's Convent School at Mt. Pleasant occupied.

1883

Present Burra Railway Station built.

Pig and Whistle Hotel destroyed by fire.

Dam across Burra Creek suggested.

1884

Salvation Army Corps formed. Population of Burra 2,647 persons.

Number of houses 557.

Water (from old Bon Accord mine shaft) laid on to Redruth and Kooringa.

July 4th Tenders called for school and residence Mt Bryan East

1885

Salvation Army Citadel built. Broken Hill Proprietary begins mining at Broken Hill.

Water supplied to 100 houses in Kooringa.

1886

Many unemployed in Burra. Families leave for Broken Hill.

1887

Planting of trees along Jubilee Walk between Kooringa and Redruth.

First bicycle club formed.

1888

Opening of Petersburg (Peterborough) to Broken Hill railway.

Fountain erected in Jubilee Walk. Bagot, Shakes and Lewis commence business.

1889

Skating rink opened in Institute Hall.

Swing bridge erected over Burra Creek for school children.

Death of Captain Henry Roach of the Burra Burra Mine.

Wettest recorded year - 27.80 inches

1890

Discovery of Diprotodon fossils at Baldina Creek.

Tenders called for two storey building in Market Square for Elder, Smith & Co.

1891

Bagot, Shakes and Lewis build new sale yards.

1892

Christening of Bon Accord Bridge (now demolished).

Broken Hill v Burra football match at Broken Hill.

1893

The new St Mary’s Schoolroom was opened with a dedicatory service on Sunday 24 September, when Rev. A.G. King officiated.

Demonstration of Edison's phonograph in Institute.

1894

Redruth Gaol closed (opened 1856) Burra Burra Show held in Victoria Park.

1895

Death of Thomas Warnes - pioneer pastoralist.

1896

1897

Redruth Gaol to become Redruth Girls Reformatory.

1898

First escape from Girls Reformatory.

First Burra Bicycle Club sports at Victoria Park.

Visit of Government geologist, H.Y.L. Brown to Burra Burra Mine.

1899

Burra Slag Extraction Company begin treating slag-heaps at mine.

1900

Farewell to Mr. and Mrs. McCulloch of Princess Royal. Property acquired by John Tennant.

1901

July 27. 'White Sunday' - Burra's greatest snowstorm.

Horse sales in Market Square each month.

1902

Unicorn Brewery closed. First motor car appears for sale in Burra.

1903

First stock of motor-bicycles. First two sold to Mr. T.H. Pearse of 'The Gums Station' and Mr. M.P. Baynes of Burra.

1904

Rabbit plague- thousands are piled in heaps along the Eastern road making an unbearable stench for miles.  Even in town 100 to 30 have been killed against fences in an hour or so.

In December the rabbiter J. Pick of Braemar was catching up to 3376 in a single night and recently disposed of 15,000 to 16,000.

Burra Hospital lit by acetylene gas.

Kooringa Methodist Church lit by Acetylene gas.

Waterworks returned to government control.

Phosphate discovery at Bright.

1905

Rabbit plague 25th January: Last week a rabbiter brought in 14¾ cwt of skins representing 15,000 rabbits.  Burgess is the top skinner and can get through 5 a minute when pressed.

Redruth Post Office closed 2nd October

Heavy snowfall in August and September:  Tuesday 29th August second heaviest fall to that date (after 1901) Snow fell 4-5 a.m. and 7-11a.m. and extended far to the north being particularly heavy at Mt. Bryan.  Monday 4th September extensive falls from Petersburg (Peterborough) to Mt Bryan over previous tow days.  None in Burra but on Monday visible on the hills just to the north of the town.

New pipe organ for St. Mary's Church of England.

1906

Avenue of trees to cemetery planted. Motor trip by car club to Morgan.

1907

Selection of rabbit recipes in the paper “now that bunny is becoming so troublesome”.

Most severe frost to that day on 27th June lasting all day.  Ice 1’’ thick on footbridge.

First Burra to Adelaide cycling race.

1908

Monday 22nd June, heavy snow in the early morning with thaw about 9 a.m. Persisted all day in sheltered places.  Another heavy fall at 2 p.m. melted quickly.

Tuesday 30 June snow on the hills and record fall to that date at Mt. Bryan, Burra Creek froze over in the town sufficiently to support children.

Tommy Halls buys 'lock, stock and barrel' Charley Grow's cab business.

1909

Burra Burra Show transfers to new grounds at Aberdeen.

Old Wooden railway bridge at Aberdeen replaced by iron bridge.

Private Girls' High School transfers from 'Bleak House' to Mine Bridge (old mine stores).

First payment for old age pensioners introduced.

Syndicate purchases rooms known as Burra musical and Dramatic Club for the office of the Eastern Telephone Exchange. October telephone line east of Burra as far as Sturt Vale opened.

Sunday 25th July and Thursday 29th July saw light snow in Burra with a heavier fall on Sunday 1st August, which at Mt. Bryan persisted through Monday.

1910

Severe storm and flood in September:  the nights of the 2nd and 3rd September saw a big storm and the worst flood for 20 years.  Pig and Whistle bridge and Burra Hotel bridges washed away.  Water at the doors of the White Hart and Gully’s.  At Mt Bryan the creek was 1 mile wide.

Sunday 9th October. Snow in Burra which persisted all day on higher ground around Mt. Bryan and Hallett.

Record wheat harvest at Mt. Bryan.

McBride cottages opened.

'Uncle Tom's Cabin' shown by West's pictures at Institute

Office of “Burra Record” destroyed by fire.  Paper not published for three months.  April-July

Old German Church burns down in July.

1911

Earth tremors in February brought down ceilings at E. W. Crewes and at Black’s at Princess Royal. 

In June a severe mouse plague had them swarming in house destroying clothes and bedding etc.

King's Memorial (Edward VII) Rotunda opened in Market Square.

King's Coronation Celebration on June 22 at the Rotunda.

John McClaren, Mayor, opens first Burra to Adelaide telephone service.

New Oddfellows Lodge Hall in Aberdeen

December: measles epidemic.

1912

January:  Afternoon passenger train derailed after striking a bull at the crossing.  The train crash was near Fred Dew's farm near Burra.  Veteran driver Matt Eye was the driver of the train.

February:  Large bushfire in eastern station country.  Old hospital building, formerly Burra Hotel assembly room condemned as unsafe.

March:  First performance of Burra Coronation Band

June:  Roller Skating rink opens in Queen Street

August:  Oakbank station shears 6000 sheep with machine in 8½days with 6 men.  Woolgangi to shear 15,00 by hand.

October:  Paxton Square offered for sale by South Australian Mining Association: passed in at £500.  A goods train runs through the turntable and onto the road at the Burra station

November:  Eastern Telephone System now connects Sturt Vale, Old Koomooloo, Woolgangi, Baldina, Quongdong, Caroona, Mongolata, Redcliffe, Braemar, Faraway Hill Oakbank and to the west Wahroonga and Leighton.

More mice

Diphtheria outbreak.

Public School built at Mt. Bryan.

Second storey added to Burra Hotel (previously Miners' Arms).

1913

Burra High School opened in west wing of Primary School - 30 scholars enrolled.

Complaints concerning Sunday golf.

1914

Kooringa Methodist Church replaces older one.

Mrs. Young opens private maternity hospital in George Street.

August. World War I.

1915

Great flood breaks 1914 drought. Early (6 p.m.) closing of hotels introduced in S.A.

Tar paving of Commercial Street begins.

1916

Severe flooding to the west around Leighton.  Two men swept away but manage to climb from water.

November 35 points or 8.75mm fell in 5 minutes, Commercial Street and Market Square flooded.

Tornado at Mackerode did  £1,000 damage in 5 minutes.  A dam lost 2 feet of water, 200 large trees destroyed along with sheds etc.

Mouse plague unabated.

Burra Mine area (262 acres) sold to A.J. McBride for $6,000.

March 14th White Hart Hotel burns down.

1917

Booborowie to Burra fire in January.

Influenza February to June claims several lives. A return of it in September is milder but very widespread.

Burra Ladies' Cheer-Up-Band marches through Adelaide.

Tuesday 21st August.  Snow fell early in the morning and further falls in late morning.  It melted by about noon but remained on the hills.

1918

November. Peace Day. Ringing of Fire bell at 9.30 p.m. to signal end of World War I.

1919

Complaints about transparent blouses of some 'young ladies'.

Saturday 6th September produced driving hail, sleet and snow.  Snow fell heavily around midnight with several inches on the ground on Sunday morning.  More fell around midday and the views of the hills, especially around Mt. Bryan were magnificent.  Rain removed it in the afternoon at Burra.

Influenza epidemic February to June results in a few deaths. Returns in August in milder form when hospital  averages 27 patients a day.  Very widespread.

1920

Death at the age of 90 of R.J.M. McBride - pioneer pastoralist.

Opening of Burra bowling Club.

First Motor Ambulance exhibited in Market Square.

1921

Grasshoppers in April to the East too thick to drive through and in November they strip the town bare and do great damage to crops and feed.

June. Commercial Street and Market Square flooded and Thames Street badly affected.

F. Highett, town lamplighter, hurt at football - no lights.

Revolution and riot at Girls Reformatory.

New Model T Ford on exhibition.

Morphett’s Engine House chimney blown up for building stone.

1922

Annual seaside trip to Semaphore - 1,400 passengers.

Hon. W.M. Hughes, Prime Minister of Australia, unveils Burra and District Fallen Soldiers' Memorial in Market Square.

Fire brigade station completed.

Institute (Town Hall) enlarged by addition of gallery and other changes.

Hospital gets x-ray equipment.

Great Western stained glass window dedicated in St. Mary’s.

Funeral of John Lewis.

Girls Reformatory closed.

1923

Sunday 30th September.  Snow fell heavily about 3.30a.m. A.J. Cousin’s funeral took 5 hours through snow, rain and hail to cover 20 miles from Booborowie to Kooringa.  The horses often refused to move on in the blizzard conditions.

Fastest sheep sale dispose of 23,000 in 85 minutes.

1924

Mr. G. Dow of Burra Motor Co. first to receive a radio broadcast from Adelaide.

1925

Anthropologists investigate rock art found in 1922 and find half acre site of Aboriginal encampment with spear heads etc.

Prime Minister Rt. Hon. S. M. Bruce visits.

Petrol pumps installed at local garages.

October 29th - Back to Burra - Back to School celebration.  “Back to Burra” celebrations in October are very successful -- two old miners’ dugouts opened o the public

In November a plane crashes on take-off from the racecourse destroying the machine but pilot Smith & tow passengers unhurt.

Government decides to sell Ayers Forest for closer settlement.

Boys smoking out rabbits cause a fire which destroys the buildings and associated structures at Morphett’s Shaft Timer in the shaft burns rigorously for several days  (Dec)

Fire severely damages Commercial Hotel stables.

Severe measles epidemic. Burra school closed in July when only 80 of 276 on the roll attended.

Jubilee Show on new showground.

March 27 - Burra Electricity Co. switches on lights for first time.

Redruth Methodist Memorial Sunday School completed.

Morphett’s Engine House and shaft etc. destroyed by fire.

'Johnny Green' the miners' mascot falls to ground.

Maternity Wing at the hospital opened.

Severe dust storm in October.

Plane crash in  Mrs H. Thomas’s paddock.

1926

Burra Country Women's Association founded. Mrs. I.J. Warnes first President. 1928 Porter's Lagoon Third Annual Aquatic Sports.

January and Italian working at A.B.Riggs went a slag sample for testing.  A further 50 tons have been requested and if it works out it could be quite profitable.

April. Effort by Mr. H. Atkins and other to turn Porter’s Lagoon into a “seaside”

resort of the north 1st sport day at the Lagoon.

May Eastern subdivision of Graham offered for sale by estate of late William West - 75 building sites south of St. Just Street.

May 10th Heavy fall of snow Peterborough, Hallett, Terowie and Mt. Bryan. Light fall at Burra at 3.30pm.  Around Hallett it fell continuously for 6 hours.

September The Westbury Methodist Church was reopened 4th September after extensive renovations paid for in part by money from Education Department which bought the Copperhouse Primitive Methodist Church and converted it to the school.

(Westbury Church often called Copperhouse Church as it was almost adjacent to the village)

November Butterworth’s old mill New Aberdeen becomes Shell Depot.

C.W.A. in South Australia begins with Burra Branch Mrs I.J. Warnes first president.

Children’s playground opposite St. Joseph’s constructed – open over Christmas holidays.

1927

February  Porter’s Lagoon Boat Club 2nd sport meeting attracted almost 300 cars.

19th March Burra and District Honour Roll for the Great War unveiled by Governor Sir Tom Bridges.

April South Australian Farmer’s Union cease retail trading in Burra.

New wing added to St Joseph’s Convent (opened November)

September Governor General Lord Stonehaven visits Burra and Booborowie and Collins Park at Mt. Bryan.

Snow fell in Burra on Saturday 24th September with falls before 6.30a.m. and again just after 7.a.m.

New isolation ward at Burra Hospital completed in November. 

1928

January Porter’s Lagoon Aquatic Sports attract over 3000 people.

February Church of England Day School opens

March Motor racing on Blink Bonnie Lagoon

Handel’s Messiah produced with chorus of 170

April Burra School’s Jubilee celebrations

June John Melrose made a Knight Bachelor

George Wilkins made a Knight Bachelor henceforth known as Sir Hubert Wilkins September Redruth Court changed to Burra Court

August Vacuum Oil Depot being built at the Bon Accord Corner

1929

February Aberdeen Croquet Club opened

February Copperhouse School old church porch removed and other improvements made

School held in Westbury Church during alterations

Burra Boy Scouts reformed

June Unemployment  high locally

An aerodrome near the racecourse being considered

August death of E.W. Crewes, Mayor throughout the Boer War and again in the Great War

Jubilee of St. Mary’s Church

Chevrolet Touring Car £398 at Wright's Motors.

30th August – 1st September, extreme wind and cold with sleet after severe dust storms.  Dry to the east with worst dust storm n 50 years; further bad dust storm in December.  Specifically, 30th August Extremely windy and dusty, 31 August Very cold and windy with rain and sleet around midnight, 1st September Severe fronts Sunday night

The dust storms on 30th and 31st especially to the east were hellish: in places blood red and elsewhere brownie-black.  At Ketchowla a large lorry, in gear  and with brakes on, was blown  200 yards into a tree.  Eastern properties had lights on all day and in the worst dust storm for 50 years. Mr and Mrs W. H. Sandland drove in from Balah in 8½ hours for a trip normally of 1½ hours to 2 hours.  At one stage they had to stop for 3 hours, unable to see past the bonnet of the car nor to hear the car horn or engine.  A following lorry kept bumping in to them, the driver unable to see I the dust.  To the west and south the rain was needed but the snow and hail will bring big sheep losses.  Snow persisted in gullies on Sunday around Mt Bryan and Ulooloo.  Not enough rain fell to the eat to settle the dust.

1930

Gold field discovered at Mongolata. Messrs. Byles Jnr. and Snr. take ore to Adelaide for survey.

1931

Mongolata Gold Fields expand rapidly attracting many unemployed men.

Unemployed try to work Burra Mine but fail to make enough for food.

Porters Lagoon too low for aquatic sports: by March salt is being harvested.

District’s Soldiers Settlers with average holdings of 400 acres could not earn the basic wage.

Men on rations in town vary through the year from c.70-100.

Burra and District Brass Band formed under J.H. Murison.

Council aids unemployed but runs overdraft to £1,100 (on an income from rate of £1,400)

In July coldest day for 52 years.

November air pageant in M. Collins’s paddock at Copperhouse: acrobatic display, parachute drop & joy flights.

December: G.E. Dane produces Handel’s ‘Messiah” at the Institute with local soloists & over 100 performers.

1932

Sir Charles Kingsford Smith lands at Burra in Southern Cross and fifty Burraites pay for a ride. Welcomed by Councillor Jennison.

1933

Opening of gold battery on Mongolata gold field.

1934

Gold nugget weighing 183 ounces found at Mongolata (Pexton's nugget).

1935

Union of District Council areas of Burra, Hanson, Booborowie and Mt. Bryan. Isaac J. Warnes first chairman of new District Council of Burra Burra.

1936

Centenary of South Australia.

New furniture placed in Town Hall Committee Room following appeal by Mayor, T.H. Woollacott, to pioneer families.

1937

J. H. Murison, bandmaster, moves to Waikerie, band goes into recess.

Beginning of protracted & ultimately unsuccessful plans for a town swimming pool.

Activities at Mongolata continue but mostly confined to Baldina Mongolata gold Mining Syndicate & Byles Mongolata Gold Ming Co.

12 May Interdenominational Divine Service at the Institute for Coronation of King George VI

Mrs Mary Warnes awarded M.B.E. in Coronation Honours.

June visit of Swann Reach “All Blacks” Aboriginal footballers.  Burra Assoc. defeat them at Booborowie 128-70.

27 July a broken axle derails carriages of Broken Hill Express which then run 500 metres to strike the station platform.  No serious injuries.

2 September; highest flood since 1915 reaches about 2 metres over Pig & Whistle ford.

20 September: heavy snow on northern fringe of town

Smelts chimney declared unsafe

Much consternation over parking around the curve in Market Square.

20 Dec. Max Pearce & J.L. Cleary killed in car accidents  south of Booborowie.

1938

Commencement of Tarlee-Burra bitumen road (v.1960).

Explorer, Sir Hubert Wilkins revisits Mt. Bryan East, camps at his old homestead and visits his old school.

1939

Corporation takes over responsibility for Institute.

September - World War II begins.

1940

Burra Show cancelled for duration of War.

Petrol rationing commences.

1941

Burra Record reduced in size because of paper shortage.

Roach's flour mill at Aberdeen demolished

1942

Black-out signal if Burra bombed - Bells throughout town to be rung 'vigorously and continuously for a period of four minutes'.

1943

Burra Burra District Council occupies present offices (purchased from Commercial Bank).

1944

Death of I.J. Warnes, Chairman District Council of Mt. Bryan 1906-1935; Chairman, District Council of Burra Burra 1935-1942.

1945

Burra Centenary year. Mayor, T.H. Woollacott awarded M.B.E.. World War II ends.

1946

S.A. Farmers Union Store becomes Returned Soldiers League club rooms.

1947

Mt. Bryan East school closed

1948

Burra/Adelaide cycle race resumed (first race 1910).

Merino Stud Field days held.

1949

1950

Centenary of Kooringa Masonic Lodge.

1951

Jubilee celebrations of Corporation (Mayor W. Carpenter). 'The Gap' Station sold to Mr. Rex Warnes. First Housing Trust homes in Burra erected.

1952

1953

1954

Eight hundred miles of road in Burra District Council area.

1955

1956

Old Smelts chimney demolished. Burra takes football premiership (first time for eighteen years).

1957

First T.V. display - in Town Hall. Old suspension bridge replaced by present footbridge.

1958

Death of Sir Hubert Wilkins

1959

S.A. Electricity Trust takes over Burra electricity supply.

1960

New Post Office opened in Market Square.

Swimming pool opened by G. Stanley Hawker. Bitumen road to Burra completed.

1961

17th November Burra Burra Mine area (acquired by District Council) officially opened as a tourist resort.

1962

Erection of wheat silos at Hallet and Burra begin.

1963

1964

New Burra silos filled with wheat in seven days (200,000 bushels).

1965

1966

Burra connected with Morgan/Whyalla pipeline.

Opening of Burra National Trust Museum.

Opening of Burra Burra and District Branch of National Trust.

1967

Driest year on record 6.50 inches (1914 previously with 7.17 inches).

1968

Street numbering of houses commenced.

1969

Mrs. Reta Jennison awarded British Empire Medal for services to town. Amalgamation of Council and Corporation. Mayor Edward Thomas Baulderstone retires after record term of fifteen years. Burra Sketchbook published by Maurice Perry and Ian Auhl.

Opening of Burra Ambulance centre and EFS 1st June

1970

World record price for Merino ram (Collinsville Stud) $27,200.

1971

Dedication of memorial to Thomas Pickett, discoverer of Burra Burra Mine. Samin Ltd. begin production of copper concentrates at the Burra Mine.

Burra North Post Office Closed

1972

First Copper Festival. Unveiling of resited Cornish Chimney at mine entrance by Governor of South Australia, Sir Mark Oliphant. Plans of $3 million Stage 2 section announced by Samin Ltd. Centenary of Burra District Council.

1973

Official opening of Baker of Baldina Aged Cottage Homes27th  May

1974

Second Burra Copper Festival.

Wettest year on record (34.06 inches, previously 27.80 inches, 1889).

July 2nd Hanson Post Office closed after 84 years began at Davies Town Railway Station.

1975

Beginning of reconstruction of Burra School.

1976

June 28 - Centenary Corporation of Town of Burra.

June 30 - Centenary of publication of the Burra newspaper.  The newspaper was known as the Northern Mail in 1876 and then from 1878 it became known as the Burra Record.

Census 1201 persons, 463 buildings

1977

March 1 - Centenary of Laying of foundation stone of Primary School (opened January 25, 1878).

March 1 - Centenary of opening of Burra Hospital. September 12 - Centenary of Burra Show Society. September 29 - Centenary of closure of Burra Burra Mine.

Burra Record ceased operation 8th March to be known as  Review-Times-Record an amalgamation with Peterborough, Jamestown and Orroroo based papers and printed at Port Pirie.

Booborowie centenary

Author's Note: Dates for events given here have been obtained by search of newspapers - the Adelaide Register until June, 1876, and the Burra Record thereafter

1978

April - Opening of new school buildings

Sept - Opening of library at Burra School

Nov - Hallet Masonic Lodged closed

1979

"Breaker Morant" filmed in and around Burra.

Tourist Information office opened.

19th August, Burra Charter adopted in Burra.

Clode’s Squash Courts opened at Burra North

Burra Football and cricket club wins A grade cricket premiership

Retirement of Tom Perry District Council Clerk

1980

East Bungaree Stud sold to industrialist and grazier Mr W H Wylie

May 30th -  Opening of New District Council Offices & Civic Centre

1981

Work ceases  on Mine Open Cut.

Burra Burra Branch of the National Trust announces plans for Bon Accord Museum.

Jan 21st - New Mt Bryan School building opened

Centenary of the birth of Essington Lewis (born Kooringa, Burra 13th Jan. 1881)

Sept 30th Manual Telephone Exchange closes

1982

Bike and walking track in Burra sealed

Booborowie Hall extensions opened

Oct 31st – Burra Community Sports Complex officially opened

Ian Auhl appointed honorary Historian of Burra Council

Helen Stockman first woman elected to District Council

Paxton Square restorations began

Census - 1982 -  1222 persons , 496 buildings

1983

Paxton Square Cottages opened for tourist accommodation.

Burra Copper Festival

1984

Colin Fidock Citizen of the year 6 years library & St Mary’s Church and National Trust

Twin Town Project SA – Texas Visitors from Kerriville, Texas to Burra

Creek dredging

Henry Hyde Winnall Born 8th may 1907 died 21st Feb. 1982, ashes scattered in Mine Pool.  Father of Mayor 1902/03

Sign erected at Post Office for fire danger

Rerouting of Barrier Highway and Morgan Road – demise of Croquet Club

May – First stock sale by video Burra to Narrogwin in WA

Fountain monument at hospital for Mrs D. Baulderstone last lady Mayoress

Ray Jennison AM (order of Australia

July 15th Burra Hospital day care centre opened

State Bank takeover

ANZ bank gets ramp for disabled

July 5th Snow at Burra Community School

Oct – Kooringa Hotel 100 years old

1985

Jan. 23rd Burra to Broken Hill wheel barrow push commenced

Tom Perry (Council Clerk) farewelled 

1986

May 4th and 5th Jubilee Industry trade train in Burra

Opening of new Dalgety Bennett Farmers premises

Jubilee 150 Burra Civil Jubilee Ball Governor and Lady Dunstan attended

S.A. 150 Celebration.

Ian Auhl collection at Community library.

Market Square layout altered.

5th October, Opening of reconstructed Morphett's Engine House.

1987

Local History room opened.

Elders mark 100 years of livestock sales in Burra.

Australia Day citizen of the year Mrs Olive Oates

Kooringa School building  110 years old, opened 22nd Feb, 1877

May 15th - Jennison Tyre Service ceases trading after 65 years in Business

Oct. 19th – Matthews Emporium ceases trading after 65 years in business

1988

Burra proclaimed Merino capital of the world

1989

Paxton Square restoration completed.

Unicorn Brewery cellars re-opened as tourist attraction.

1990

National Trust holds 25th AGM

1991

Burra Motor Inn opened Sports Complex gutted by fire.

Community Activities centre opened.

1992

1993

Old Post Office Building sold.

Burra Broadcaster began.

Burra proclaimed a State Heritage Area.

Floods in Burra 25th Jan - worst floods in 50 years.

1994

Community swimming pool completed.

Opening of Goyder House boarding house for isolated students.

1995

Burra's 150 year celebration

1996

Official opening of the Burra Art Gallery held on 5th October, 1996. 

1997

Regional Council of Goyder proclaimed 3rd February as a result of amalgamation of the former District Councils of Burra Burra, Eudunda, Hallet and Robertown.

1998

Burra Morgan Road sealed opened by Minister of Transport, Diana Laidlaw on 29th March

Renovations to Ambulance Centre

1999

Burra golf course greened

Floods on Christmas Eve

2000

Chicken farm opened June

Kooringa Masonic Lodge celebrates 150 years on 18th February

Archaeological survey by Flinders University of dugouts at Mitchell Flat.

Princess Royal sold to C R and S P Pty Ltd

2001

Mt Bryan School closed December

Kooringa road sealed from Paradise to Ford’s corner February

Sir Hubert Wilkins memorial opened by Dick Smith in June

2002

First Jazz in the Monster Mine

Burra hospital closes maternity section

2003

Old fire station closed 12th march

Burra wins three tourism awards

Burra Community School celebrates 25 years

2004

CWA celebrates 75 years

Steel girders strengthen Kooringa Bridge

Holder Homes at Burra Hospital opened 23rd May

Disused Railway Bridge span removed over highway at Burra North 27th May

2005

April -  Asbestos removed from Burra Community School.  It was the largest construction project to have occurred since the rebuilding of the school in 1976 at a cost of $1.5 million.