Peterborough, South Australia

Peterborough South Australia
Main street of Peterborough
Peterborough
Coordinates	32°58′S 138°50′E / 32.967°S 138.833°E / -32.967; 138.833Coordinates: 32°58′S 138°50′E / 32.967°S 138.833°E / -32.967; 138.833
Population	1,689 (2006 census)
Established	1879
Postcode(s)	5422
Elevation	535 m (1,755 ft)
Location	220 km (137 mi) N of Adelaide 113 km (70 mi) SE of Port Augusta
LGA(s)	District Council of Peterborough
State electorate(s)	Stuart
Federal Division(s)	Division of Grey
Website	Peterborough
Localities around Peterborough: Minvalara Minvalara Ucolta Sunnybrae Peterborough Ucolta Sunnybrae Sunnybrae Ucolta

Peterborough is a town in the mid north of South Australia, in wheat country, just off the Barrier Highway. At the 2011 census, Peterborough had a population of 1,486.

It was originally named Petersburg after the landowner, Peter Doecke, who sold land to create the town. It was one of 69 places in South Australia renamed in 1917 due to anti-German sentiments during World War I.

The first settlers in the area purchased land from the government in 1875. The first building in the town was constructed four years later. Settler Peter Doecke transferred his land to J H Koch in 1876, who found out in 1880 that the land would be the site of a railway junction. He subdivided it and sold 33 acres (13 ha) for £1700, after failing to get £500 for it in 1879. By 1880 a hotel and post office had been erected, followed by a school in 1883, and a town hall in 1884. At the prompting of mayor W. Thredgold, a newspaper, the Petersburg Times was founded in 1887 by Robert M. Osborne, became The Times and Northern Advertiser in 1919, under the longterm proprietorship of W. H. Bennett and survived as a family business until 1970.

Peterborough has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

Peterborough is the seat of the District Council of Peterborough. It is the largest town in the council area. Peterborough is in the state electorate of Stuart and federal Division of Grey. Peterborough at one point in time had its own town council (Corporation of the Town of Peterborough) surrounded by the district council.

Peterborough sat on the intersection of the East-West railway linking Port Pirie and Broken Hill, and the North–South railway linking Adelaide eventually to Alice Springs via Quorn, both narrow gauge (1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)) lines between 1917 (when the Trans-Australian Railway opened across the Nullarbor Plain) and 1937 (when a more direct south-north route bypassed the Peterborough–Quorn railway line by connecting Port Pirie to Port Augusta). The Peterborough railway station is still in operation and is a stop on the weekly Indian Pacific train.