Hill River, South Australia

Hill River South Australia
HILL RIVER plaque at junction of Weckerts Road and Clare-Farrell Flat Road, South Australia
Hill River
Coordinates	33°48′21″S 138°41′14″E / 33.805730°S 138.687090°E / -33.805730; 138.687090Coordinates: 33°48′21″S 138°41′14″E / 33.805730°S 138.687090°E / -33.805730; 138.687090
Established	2001
Postcode(s)	5453
Time zone	ACST (UTC+9:30)
• Summer (DST)	ACST (UTC+10:30)
Location	127 km (79 mi) N of Adelaide city centre
LGA(s)	Clare and Gilbert Valleys
Region	Yorke and Mid North
State electorate(s)	Frome
Federal Division(s)	Wakefield
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall 21.3 °C 70 °F 9.0 °C 48 °F 541.9 mm 21.3 in
Localities around Hill River: Barinia Hilltown Gum Creek Stanley Flat Spring Farm Clare Hill River Gum Creek Farrell Flat Sevenhill Polish Hill River Stanley Stanley
Footnotes	Coordinates Climate

Hill River is a locality in the Yorke and Mid North region of South Australia, about 127 kilometres (79 miles) north of the Adelaide city centre. It is bisected by the Hill River, an ephemeral stream from which it derives its name. Its boundaries were created in January 2001 for the “long established name.”

Hill River is located within the federal division of Wakefield, the state electoral district of Frome and the local government area of the District Council of Clare and Gilbert Valleys.

Prior to European settlement it was the traditional home of the Ngadjuri people. The first European explorer to discover the Hill River area was Edward John Eyre on 5 June 1839. He named the river after explorer John Hill because he was "the gentleman who discovered its twin river, the Hutt". Eyre described the area as "a fine chain of ponds taking its course through a very extensive and grassy valley, but with little timber of any kind growing near it."

The first pastoralist of Hill River was Charles Campbell (1811–59), an overlander who established a sheep run there in 1842 in connection with Henry Strong Price (1825–89). He took out an occupation licence in January 1843. Their resident stock-keeper was William Roach.

In 1844 overlander William Robinson (1814–1889) established Hill River Station along the upper reaches of the waterway, near Clare. The artist S.T. Gill visited in 1846 as part of the ill-fated Horrocks expedition. Gill prepared several watercolours of the thriving homestead, which was at that time perhaps the most advanced pastoral establishment in the Mid North.