Arthurton

The town of Arthurton, in the centre of Yorke Peninsula, is a small rural community and service town situated about 18 kms north of Maitland. The settlement was originally known as Kalkabury, however in 1877 the Governor, Sir Arthur Musgrave, renamed the town Arthurton after his infant son.

Arthurton was probably intended as a large regional centre, if the number of blocks and open spaces originally surveyed are taken into account. However drought and unreliable water supply throughout the years have affected regional agricultural activity, and the negative economic consequences of this influenced the town's eventual size.

Despite this, Arthurton has served as a centre for local pastoralists, in times past offering a post office, dressmaker, bakery, butchers, blacksmiths, sporting clubs, churches and a hall for social occasions.

It was just north of the town of Arthurton that the Smith brothers designed and built their prototype of the stump jump plough. This agricultural machine revolutionised the cultivation of land that contained tree stumps and large stones, as the mechanism could 'jump' over such obstacles.

Further reading:

Carmichael, Ern, The ill-shaped leg : a story of the development of Yorke Peninsula , Fullarton, S. Aust., 1973

Colliver, PH and Thomson, TM., Kalkabury became Arthurton, Arthurton : Centenary Committee, Arthurton, 1977