Wallaroo, South Australia

Wallaroo South Australia
Wallaroo Town Hall
Wallaroo
Coordinates	33°55′0″S 137°37′0″E / 33.91667°S 137.61667°E / -33.91667; 137.61667Coordinates: 33°55′0″S 137°37′0″E / 33.91667°S 137.61667°E / -33.91667; 137.61667
Population	3,053 (2006 census)
Established	1851
Postcode(s)	5556
Elevation	44 m (144 ft)
Location	160 km (99 mi) NNW of Adelaide
LGA(s)	Copper Coast
State electorate(s)	Goyder
Federal Division(s)	Grey
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall 23.0 °C 73 °F 10.8 °C 51 °F 386.7 mm 15.2 in
Localities around Wallaroo: Spencer Gulf North Beach Wallaroo Plain Wallaroo Plain Spencer Gulf Wallaroo Kadina Spencer Gulf Warburto Kadina
Footnotes	Adjoining localities

Wallaroo is a port town on the western side of Yorke Peninsula in South Australia, 160 kilometres north-northwest of Adelaide. It is one of the three Copper Triangle towns famed for their historic shared copper mining industry, and known together as "Little Cornwall", the other two being Kadina (about 8 kilometres to the east) and Moonta (about 18 kilometres south). At the 2006 census, Wallaroo had a population of 3,053.

The name "Wallaroo" comes from the Aboriginal word wadlu waru, meaning wallaby urine. The early settlers tried to copy the aboriginals by calling it Walla Waroo. However, they found this too big to stamp on the wool bales, so they shortened it to Wallaroo.

Since 1999, the rural broadacre farming area to the north of the town has been officially known as Wallaroo Plain The area south of Wallaroo is Warburto. The Warburto railway station name was derived from the Narungga name for a nearby spring.

Prior to European Settlement, Wallaroo was occupied by the indigenous Narungga people. During the early years of European settlement, the Narungga had a healthy population, but it has since dwindled. Matthew Flinders was the first European to visit the location. When he sailed by on 16 March 1802, he recorded that "the immediate coast ... which extends several leagues to the north of the point, is low and sandy, but a few miles back it rises to a level land of moderate elevation, and is not ill-clothed with small trees."

Wallaroo was first settled in 1851 by a sheep grazier, Robert Miller. In 1857, Walter Watson Hughes purchased the land and named it "Walla Waroo". The name was subsequently shortened to "Wallaroo".