Geranium a small mallee farming community in South Australia

This pretty Mallee farming town was named after the wild geraniums that grow in abundance here.

Settlement dates back to 1906, when the Government sank a bore. The railway brought more settlers and a school classroom was built in 1929. There are several good picnic spots, including the Railway Station Memorial Garden.

Geranium on the highway has a hall, two churches, a store, a garage, extensive sporting facilities and the only other bowling green in the area makes it an important local centre, and an attractive township for farmers to retire to. In 1999 the Geranium community won South Australia's Tidiest Town Award and won an Award of Excellence for Environmental Action and Education nationally.

The town has made a focus of their pioneering history, with the railway station memorial garden and the memorials established after each World War. Turn off Highway 12 and take a quiet meander through the town and you will find several pleasant picnic spots. Fuel and supplies are available here.

The Government sank a bore here in 1906, and named the location after the wild geraniums found growing everywhere - Pelargonium australe. When the railway opened there was no allowance for a siding between Peake and Parrakie, so locals here and at Jabuk had to petition the Government. A platform and a goods shed was built in 1908, though no survey for the town was done until the end of 1909. Town allotments were auctioned on 9 June 1910.

School was held in the local hall until a stone schoolroom was built in 1929 because attendances were around 40. In 1961 the parents at Peake, Jabuk and Parrakie joined with Geranium parents in looking into the establishment of an Area School at Geranium. In 1965 the new Geranium Area School opened with an enrolment of 247 students, and the little schools at Peake, Jabuk and Parakkie were closed. In 1990 the school again became a primary school, with secondary students tracvelling to Lameroo by bus.

As with all new towns, a hall was quickly built for public events, and then funds had to be raised to pay for the building. One such fundraiser was a ball hosted by 'the Bachelors' of the district, and the main complaint from the evening was that the hall was too small.

Explore the Mallee Highway

Source: Mallee Tracks