Morgan - Culture and History

Prior to European settlement the area was inhabited by the Naralte Aborigines who were described by one early settler as 'very friendly and quickly picked up a smattering of English. They were willing to work ... and attempted to instruct the newcomers in their methods of hunting.' The river provided abundant food and they lived well off a diet of kangaroos, emus, wombats, goannas, lizards, ducks, turtles, fish, snakes and bird eggs. These Aborigines reputedly called the district 'coerabko' meaning 'meeting place of the tribe'.

The first European into the area was Captain Charles Sturt who, being assigned to solve the great mystery of why so many rivers flowed westward from the Great Dividing Range (often known as the question of whether Australia had an 'inland sea') rowed a whale boat down the Murrumbidgee in late 1829 and reached the junction with the Murray River on 14 January 1830. He continued down Australia's largest river passing Morgan in early February and reaching Lake Alexandrina, at the mouth of the river, on 9 February, 1830.

With the development of the river as a major transportation route in the 1850s and 1860s Morgan became an important stopping point for the overlanders bringing sheep to Adelaide.

The town was officially proclaimed in 1878 and named after Sir William Morgan who was Chief Secretary at the time. Town lots were auctioned on 16 May 1878 with some selling for as much as £1540 per acre. The reason for this was that smart investors realised that the arrival of the railway that year would ensure that the town became one of the major transport nodes on the river. They were correct. In a few years Morgan was the second-busiest port (after Port Adelaide) in South Australia loading and unloading both trains and steamers. At its height there were six trains a day leaving for Adelaide and steamers were literally queued up along the banks for loading and unloading.

Slowly the river trade disappeared and the town became a small rural centre and a crossing point for travellers wanting to make their way across the Murray River. Today it is a pleasant, sleepy little town which is used by people who are travelling or holidaying on the Murray.