Postcode(s) 5540 Solomontown Coonamia Postal code 5540 Federal division Division of Grey | State electorate(s) Frome Elevation 6 m Local time Sunday 7:14 PM | |
 | ||
LGA(s) Port Pirie Regional Council Weather 37°C, Wind N at 10 km/h, 19% Humidity | ||
Solomontown is a settlement in South Australia. It is now essentially a suburb of Port Pirie, but was historically a separate town. It was named after Emanuel Solomon, who owned the land that the town developed on.
Contents
Map of Solomontown SA 5540, Australia
Transport
Solomontown has the Spencer Highway run from northeast to south through it, and Warnertown Road from Port Pirie towards the Augusta Highway and Adelaide runs northeast to southwest through it. The railway line in to the Port Pirie smelters (and previously to the town stations) runs along the southern boundary of Solomontown. The Solomontown railway station was formerly in the southwest corner of the town. It had a suburban rail service to Port Pirie in 1911. The Port Pirie Junction station was newly built in 1937 as the break-of-gauge junction between the South Australian Railways broad gauge from the south and the Commonwealth Railways standard gauge from the north on the site of the older Solomontown station on the Port Pirie-Cockburn railway line. (officially known as Port Pirie Junction with both names on the signboard) The station was replaced and closed in 1967, and later demolished.
Community
Solomontown Primary School, Solomontown kindergarten and the Solomontown Cats football team are based in the town.
Military History
During World War 2, Solomontown, now a suburb of Port Pirie, was the location of RAAF No.11 Inland Aircraft Fuel Depot (IAFD), built in 1942 and closed on 14 June 1944. Usually consisting of 4 tanks, 31 fuel depots were built across Australia for the storage and supply of aircraft fuel for the RAAF and the US Army Air Forces at a total cost of £900,000 ($1,800,000).