Christies Beach, South Australia
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Christies Beach Adelaide, South Australia |
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View of the Christies Beach coastline from Witton Bluff
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 Christies Beach
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| Coordinates | 35°08′06″S 138°28′37″E / 35.13494°S 138.476960°ECoordinates: 35°08′06″S 138°28′37″E / 35.13494°S 138.476960°E | ||||||||||||
| Population | 4,832 (2006 census) | ||||||||||||
| Established | 1925 | ||||||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 5165 | ||||||||||||
| Location | 26 km (16 mi) from Adelaide city centre | ||||||||||||
| LGA(s) | City of Onkaparinga | ||||||||||||
| Region | Southern Adelaide | ||||||||||||
| County | Adelaide | ||||||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Reynell | ||||||||||||
| Federal Division(s) | Kingston | ||||||||||||
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| Footnotes | Coordinates Location Climate Adjoining suburbs |
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Christies Beach is a seaside suburb in the southern Adelaide metropolitan area, within the City of Onkaparinga. The area is scenic and hence popular with photographers as Witton Bluff provides a natural vantage point over the entire suburb and beyond.
Christies Beach boasts a unique commercial strip running the entire length of Beach Road and is identified as a primary coastal node in the Adelaide Metropolitan area (Planning SA, 2007). Christies Beach also features one of the few remaining main road classified Esplanades in Metropolitan Adelaide, providing direct access to the beach on Gulf St Vincent.
Christies Beach has its own postcode of 5165, and is adjacent to the suburbs of Christie Downs and Noarlunga Centre to the east, Port Noarlunga to the south, and O'Sullivan Beach to the north.
The very first development to occur along the coast of Christies Beach can be traced back to pre-colonization times, almost 40,000 years ago. The indigenous Kaurna people used the coastal area of Christies Beach (at the time known as Mullawirratingga) as a place for seasonal residence. They constructed structures known as a ‘Wodli’, which are small shelters made of branches and leaves. These structures were semi-permanent, only lasting the length of the summer period, after which they were then disassembled (City of Onkaparinga, 2005).
The first European development along the Christies Beach coastline was constructed in the 1830s. A whaling station was constructed along the coast, influenced by the rising price of whale bone overseas, the abundant Southern Right Whale population during the summer breeding season and the vantage point of Gulf St Vincent from Witton Bluff. By the 1840s the seasonal whale population dwindled down to unprofitable levels with the whales changing their migration route, and the whalers left the area to pursue other activities (Colwell, 1972) (Towler, 1986).
An area of surveyed land covering Glenelg to Witton Bluff (Christies Beach) known as District B, was made available for settlement in 1838. Many farmers took plots of land along the Anderson Creek (now known as Christies Creek). In 1895 Lambert Christie and his wife Rosa established a farm that covered the area where Christies Beach is now situated. The entire area remained a land of farming communities until 1923. This is when Rosa Christie created the first subdivision in the area, it was named Christie Beach. With this subdivision and other such residential allocations in the area road and rail transportation was improved. The improvement in transportation south of Adelaide gave Christies Beach an increase in tourists and holiday makers who were looking for a coastal experience. Many tourists decided to build cottages and holiday shacks on Witton Bluff and down onto the beach itself (City of Onkaparinga, 2005).
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