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Whyalla

On 9 March 1802 Matthew Flinders discovered and named Hummock Hill the original name of Whyalla. The Town of Whyalla was proclaimed in 1914. The Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited had a major influence on the town's development. With the discovery of iron ore in the Iron Knob area in the late 1890's a tramway from the mine was built to Hummock Hill to enable the rapid transfer of ore from the quarries to barges and subsequently across the gulf to be used as a flux in the smelters at Port Pirie. Whyalla's big leap forward, however, occurred a generation later.

In 1938 it was decided to establish a blast furnace for the production of pig iron for the foundry market close to the iron ore source, and this, together with shipyards and a deep water harbour, was built.

Another boom period and by far the biggest began in 1958 when BHP announced that a fully integrated steelworks would be established here. On 1st November 1961 Whyalla was proclaimed a city and an industrial city with a difference. In October 2000, BHP was separated and an independent company was formed in Whyalla called One Steel which replaced BHP.

It is an extremely popular venue for tourists with its ideal climate allowing the visitor to fully exploit the outdoor life.

In the Directory

• Accommodation [1]

Photos

Hummock Hill Whyalla - Photo courtesy of Tourism SA

Iron Knob - Photo courtesy of Tourism SA

Eyre Peninsula - Photo courtesy of Tourism SA

Underwater Recommendations

Visit Whyalla, the ?¢¬Ä¬úCuttlefish Capital of Australia?¢¬Ä¬ù, where large numbers of the Giant Cuttlefish aggregate to mate and spawn from May until September.

Getting There

Nearest coach terminal, Whyalla
Nearest railway station, Port Augusta.