Australian Towns & Cities
Incorporating photos and information from Michael Greenslade's former Australian Towns, Cities and Highways site
South Australia
Moonta
Located in Yorke Peninsula's Copper Coast region, and originally named Tiparra, Moonta, is well-known for historic mines and Moonta Bay. Popular with tourists, the area offers plenty of history, beach and fishing opportuntines as well as attractions such as the Moonta Mines Tourist Railway.
The Moonta area is part of the traditional lands of the indigenous Narungga people, and the town name is reportedly derived from munta-muntara or moontera, an Aboriginal word for thick scrub place or impenetrable scrub.
European settlement began in the mid-1800s, with copper discovered at Moonta in 1861, with the town being surveyed in 1863. As mining increased, so did the town' population, which was only rivalled at the time by the population of the state capital, Adelaide.
- Population:
- 624 1
- Postcode:
- 5558
- Location:
- 133 km northwest of Adelaide
- Main Roads:
- Spencer Hwy (B89)
- Radio Stations:
- FM:
- 5AU (97.9 MHz), ABC Classic (104.3 MHz), ABC News Radio (102.7 MHz), ABC Radio National (106.7 MHz), Faith FM (87.6 MHz), Flow FM (98.9 MHz), Gulf FM (89.3 MHz), Magic (105.9 MHz), Triple J (103.5 MHz) and Vision Christian Radio (88.0 MHz)
- AM:
- ABC Radio (639 kHz) and Radio TAB (1539 kHz)
NEW Town Centre:
Looking southeast along George St from the Ellen St intersection, January 2016.
Image © Michael Greenslade
NEW Town Centre:
Looking southeast along George St, January 2016.
Image © Michael Greenslade
NEW Town Centre:
Looking northwest along George St, January 2016.
Image © Michael Greenslade
NEW Spencer Highway:
Looking northwest along Spencer Hwy (Moonta-Kadina Rd) (B89), January 2016.
Image © Michael Greenslade