Pine Creek has a birthday this week, but it’s an odd one. It was first gazetted as a town on 24 January 130 years ago, but was officially given a different name to the one we know. Even though people already called it Pine Creek because of the remarkable pines growing along the creek nearby, it was first gazetted as 'Playford' after Thomas Playford Sr, the South Australian Commissioner of Crown Lands (the Playford Club Hotel is pictured, which still stands). This attempt to honour him didn’t work. Locals kept calling it Pine Creek anyway, and in 1973 the town’s name was finally changed to officially reflect the name people had been using for more than 80 years.
Published: 20 January 2019
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