Alton Downs Station

For the locality in Queensland, see Alton Downs, Queensland.

Alton Downs Station

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Location in South Australia

Alton Downs Station, most commonly known simply as Alton Downs, is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in north east South Australia.

The property is situated approximately 48 kilometres (30 mi) south west of Birdsville and 253 kilometres (157 mi) north west of Innamincka. It is bordered to the west by the Simpson Desert Regional reserve, to the south by Clifton Hills Station and to the east by Pandie Pandie Station. The station contains many landforms including gibber plains, sand-plains, floodplains, channels and ephemeral rivers.^[1] The Warburton River flows through the property southward through Clifton Hills and Cowarie Station then discharging into Lake Eyre.

History

The property was first taken up by Whittingham in 1878, the same year that Chapman established Cordillo Downs Station.^[2] Whittington still owned the property in 1893 but was experiencing financial difficulties with the Bank of Adelaide, of which he was a director.^[3]

Sidney Kidman acquired the property in 1897^[2] after he had bought nearby Cowarie Station and about the same time he started to expand further into the Channel Country and purchased Annandale Station.^[4]

The station was abandoned sometime early in the 1900s when the area was drought struck. Other nearby properties including Pandie Pandie, Miranda and Idra Downs had also been abandoned. The country had started to recover from the drought in 1904 and pastoralists in the area had commenced restocking.^[5]

The property was found to be practically abandoned in 1927 after the area had been over run by rabbits.^[6]

Current use

The property is currently owned by Brook Proprietors, who also own nearby Cordillo Downs, Murnpeowie, Adria Downs (Queensland) and Kamaran Downs (Queensland) stations. All these holdings are NASAA Certified Organic Livestock operations.^[7]

The land occupying the extent of the Alton Downs pastoral lease was gazetted as a locality in April 2013 under the name "Alton Downs Station" with the word "Station" being added to avoid duplication of the name of a locality in Queensland.^[8]

See also

• List of ranches and stations

References

1. "Marree–Innamincka District" (PDF). Government of South Australia. November 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
2. "Heritage of the Birdsville and Strzelecki Tracks" (PDF). December 2002. Archived from the original on 17 July 2004. Retrieved 3 June 2013 – via National Library of Australia.
3. "The Federal Bank". The Argus. Melbourne, Victoria. 14 October 1893. p. 15. Retrieved 4 June 2013 – via National Library of Australia.
4. Germaine Greer (2003). Whitefella Jump Up: The Shortest Way to Nationhood. Black Inc. p. 64. ISBN 9781863953719.
5. "Pastoral Country in great heart". The Capricornian. Rockhampton, Queensland. 2 April 1904. p. 34. Retrieved 3 June 2013 – via National Library of Australia.
6. ""Along the lines" mailbag". Townsville Daily Bulletin. Queensland. 25 May 1927. p. 7. Retrieved 4 June 2013 – via National Library of Australia.
7. "NASAA Certified Organic Producers". United States Department of Agriculture. 22 June 2009. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
8. "Search result for "Alton Downs Station (LOCB)" (Record no SA0067004) with the following layers selected – "Suburbs and Localities" and " Place names (gazetteer)"". Property Location Browser. Government of South Australia. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2016.

26.122°S 138.94°E / -26.122; 138.94