Pt Wakefield

Port Wakefield was the first government town to be established north of the capital, Adelaide, in South Australia.

Port Wakefield is situated approximately 98.7 kilometres from Adelaide and lies on the Port Wakefield Road section of the A1 National Highway. Port Wakefield is situated on the River Wakefield, at the head of the Gulf St Vincent.

History

Port Wakefield was first visited by Matthew Flinders in 1802, while he was travelling to the Flinders Ranges and was originally named Port Henry. The name of the town was, around 1849, changed to Port Wakefield, the surname of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, a former British Politician who was the driving force behind the colonisation of South Australia.

Today

Port Wakefield is a major stop on the Adelaide – Yorke Peninsula and Adelaide – Port Augusta road routes. Just north of the township there is a major forked intersection where the Yorke Peninsula traffic diverges west from the main highway. The intersection is notorious for road accidents.

Located thus, Port Wakefield is known mostly for its roadhouses and trucking stops, including Shell, United, Tucker Time and BP. Travelers heading north from Adelaide to either the Flinders Ranges, Yorke Peninsula, Eyre Peninsula or the Nullarbor Plain will likely travel through Port Wakefield.