Edithburgh Museum: In the Yorke Peninsula region of South Australia

Edithburgh is a popular Yorke Peninsula tourist destination. The jetty offers a spectacular view to Troubridge Island with its very own lighthouse and for many locals and tourists it's just the spot to catch a feed of whiting, tommies and gar.

However, there was a time when the old jetty beams creaked under the strain of mountains of bagged salt. Factories operated by the Standard, Castle and Colonial Salt Refining Companies kept up a supply for ships bound for Adelaide and overseas.

But the story of Edithburgh's now largely forgotten salt industry begins several kilometres from the town at what the locals call Seven Roads - a convergence of bitumen and dirt. A lonely bend in the road to Yorketown was once a thriving transport hub where carts laden with salt from Lake Fowler, Pink Lake and many others would start their journey on steel rails all the way back to town.

The steel track to "Seven Mile" was ripped up long ago and now a salt cart at the Edithburgh Museum is one of the few obvious reminders of what was a thriving industry that, for a time, saved the town.

When the first wheat and barley crops were planted in the district in the late 1860s the farmers around Edithburgh harvested bumper crops. But within a few short seasons much of the soil had been depleted of key trace elements and many farmers found the going tough. That is until they discovered salt at some of the lakes.

Using salt rakes and cutters the men worked in oppressive conditions. They used forks to move blocks of crude salt about fifty centre metres square. Then it was washed, crushed and finally processed down to core salt. Soon shipments of salt and other agricultural goods from the Peninsula meant Edithburgh was the third busiest Port in the State.

“There was a regular service of ships going backwards and forwards to Adelaide every week.”

By about the 1960s cheaper competition from other suppliers saw the decline of the local salt industry. Now the scenes depicted at the museum are a reminder of a time when 200 lakes kept the Edithburgh salt refineries working overtime.

The Edithburgh Museum is in the town's main street. It's open Sundays and Public Holidays or by appointment. Contact 8852 6187. If you have any further questions please email info@postcards.sa.com.au