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Old Peake Ruins

The information sign on the main road states the 16 km rough track is an 'entertaining drive through a quartz landscape'. The sign also warns 'CAREFUL! It's REMOTE, no facilities.' The drive took me over an hour, but it was well worth it.

The ruins, at the base of the Peake and Denison Ranges, are of an old stone village alongside date palms and flowing springs. Once the site of an Overland Telegraph Repeater Station (OTRS), an explorer and camel transport base and a copper mine. Information signs at the site contain interesting photos from the late 1800s.

The area became a pastoral settlement in the 1860s and is now part of the Kidman empire. The OTRS ran from 1871 until 1891 when the services were taken over by Oodnadatta. The copper mine operated from 1900 until 1904.

Explorer Stuart named the creek flowing from the nearby springs after Edward J Peake, a South Australian Member of Parliament. The settlement and station took their name from the creek.

 

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