South Australia.
Overview of the construction of telegraph lines by region.


The first telegraphic line was constructed in South Australia in 1856. Further lines were constructed to the north and the south-east almost immediately and construction continued at a rapid rate to meet a range of Government economic and social policy priorities.

The construction of the telegraph lines up until about 1900 is described as follows:

  1. first line to Port Adelaide - Semaphore and Salisbury;
  2. first line to Victoria;
  3. first line direct to New South Wales;
  4. the Overland Telegraph line;
  5. first line to Western Australia.

Todd's overall planning had to address various objectives he had established for the development of South Australia. Some of these objectives were:

The construction of the telegraph lines in South Australia can be analysed in terms of the broad regions of the Colony/State through which they were constructed.
These regions are shown on the two maps below and the areas are referenced with respect to the letters or the names in the Table below the maps.

To access the information for the description of the lines in a particular region or for the telegraph offices in a region:

  1. find the letter or name in one of the two maps below relating to the region in which you are interested. Some place numbers are included on the map to help identify a region.
  2. then consult the table below and click on the hyperlink for the lines or the telegraph offices (TOs) in the region of your choice.

To find a particular Telegraph Office, click here.

 

Code on Map General region for the telegraph lines Telegraph Offices
  The line of James Macgeorge.  
  First line in South Australia. TOs
A Adelaide suburban TOs TOs
B Port Wakefield, Salisbury to Barossa TOs
C Wallaroo, Morgan, Terowie to Port Pirie TOs
  Yorke Peninsula TOs
D Port Pirie, Oodla Wirra to Port Augusta TOs
  Eyre Peninsula to Eucla (WA) TOs
  Kangaroo Island TOs
E Barossa TOs
  Overland Telegraph Line. TOs
F Gawler to NSW TOs
G Mount Pleasant, Strathalbyn to Wellington. TOs
H Adelaide, Cape Jervis to the Coorong TOs
I Tailem Bend, Pinaroo to Bordertown. TOs
J Bordertown, Mount Gambier to Victoria TOs
  First line to Victoria.  
  Second line to Victoria.  
  Third line to NSW via Broken Hill.  
  Line to Queensland.