Yongala is a small town located in the state of South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. It has a population of approximately 80 people and is situated on the Clare

Clare, South Australia

The town of Clare is located in South Australia in the Mid North region, 136 km north of Adelaide. It gives its name to the Clare Valley wine and tourist region.-History:One of the first settlers in the area was John Horrocks, in 1839...

-Peterborough Road (B79). The town was proclaimed on 23 May 1876 and within 5 years had a population of 353 as developers anticipated the connection of a railway

Rail transport

Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...

. The railway instead went through the nearby town of Peterborough

Peterborough, South Australia

Peterborough is a town in the mid north of South Australia, in wheat country, just off the Barrier Highway. At the 2006 census, Peterborough had a population of 1,689....

.

Yongala is situated on a high plateau

Plateau

In geology and earth science, a plateau , also called a high plain or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting of relatively flat terrain. A highly eroded plateau is called a dissected plateau...

 and winter snowfalls are common. The town holds several records for the lowest minimum temperature in South Australia.

History

Yongala was established as a hundred and part of the Dalhousie

Cadastral divisions of South Australia

The Lands administrative divisions of South Australia refers to the cadastral units of counties, and hundreds in South Australia.These form part of the Lands administrative divisions of Australia. They are located in the south-eastern part of the state and do not cover the whole state...

 county in 1871 as one of the first of the 12 hundreds to be declared in that county. Land could be purchased in a hundred as soon as it had been declared.

The SS Yongala

SS Yongala

The passenger ship SS Yongala sank off Cape Bowling Green, Queensland, Australia on 23 March 1911. En route from Melbourne to Cairns she steamed into a cyclone and sank south of Townsville...

 launched in 1903 and owned by the Adelaide Steamship Company

Adelaide Steamship Company

The Adelaide Steamship Company was formed by a group of South Australian businessmen in 1875. Their aim was to control the transport of goods between Adelaide and Melbourne and profit from the need for an efficient and comfortable passenger service...

 was named after the town. It sank in a storm in 1911 and the wreck is now protected off the coast of Townsville, Queensland

Townsville, Queensland

Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Australia, in the state of Queensland. Adjacent to the central section of the Great Barrier Reef, it is in the dry tropics region of Queensland. Townsville is Australia's largest urban centre north of the Sunshine Coast, with a 2006 census...

.