Echunga
Town in South Australia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Echunga (/ɪˈtʃʌŋɡə/ ih-CHUNG-gə) is a small town in the Adelaide Hills located 34 kilometres (21 mi) south-east of Adelaide in South Australia.
Echunga | |||||||||||||
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Hagen Arms Hotel, located in the main street | |||||||||||||
  Echunga | |||||||||||||
| Coordinates: 35°06′0″S 138°47′0″E | |||||||||||||
| Country | Australia | ||||||||||||
| State | South Australia | ||||||||||||
| LGA | |||||||||||||
| Location | |||||||||||||
| Established | 1839 | ||||||||||||
| Government | |||||||||||||
| • State electorate |
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| • Federal division | |||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||
| • Total | 630 (UCL 2021)[1] | ||||||||||||
| Postcode | 5153 | ||||||||||||
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| [2] | |||||||||||||
The area was settled by Europeans during the period of British colonisation of South Australia in 1839, with the town laid out in 1849.[3] The name of the town was derived from the Kaurna word Ityangga, meaning "over there"[4] or "close by".[5]
Gold was discovered in 1852 and Echunga became the first proclaimed goldfield in South Australia. This led to a gold rush; however, it did not last long, with the diggings exhausted and all but abandoned within a year. Subsequent discoveries in 1853 and 1854 led to smaller and equally short-lived rushes. In 1868 more gold was discovered at nearby Jupiter Creek, which proved to be a much larger and more long-lived field.[3]
For a brief time Echunga prospered and it has been estimated that at its peak it had grown to a population in excess of 1,200.[5] Echunga is part of Battunga Country.[6]
