Palmer has a primary school (opened 1882),[3] a general store, hotel[4] and a
Lutheran Church[5]
of which
Carl Heinrich Loessel was the first pastor, from 22 May 1869 before the church was built, succeeded by the long-serving Pastor Kuss.[6]
There are some rock formations at the Granite Boulders Area Geological Site.[7]
History
Palmer is sited on the western confines of the Indigenous
Ngaralta people. The first European explorers through the Palmer district were Dr
George Imlay and
John Hill in January 1838.[8]
The Reedy Creek special survey was granted on 14 September 1846 to Enthoven, Capper and Masterman with
Samuel Davenport as agent. The township of Palmer was laid out in August 1873 on section 960.[2] The town was named after
Colonel George Palmer, a
South Australian Colonisation Commissioner.[9] It was settled as a mining and agricultural settlement. The Kitticoola mine was discovered as a copper and gold deposit in 1845.[10] The remaining surface elements of the underground mine are heritage-listed.[11]Hillgrove Resources acquired rights for further mineral exploration in 2014.[12]
Heritage listings
Palmer has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
Adelaide-Mannum Road: Granite Boulders Area Geological Site[7]
^
ab"Placename Details: Palmer (LOCB)". Property Location Browser Report. Government of South Australia. 26 March 2007. SA0053022. Archived from
the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
^Conlon, Keith; Halejko, Stan; Pancione, Sharyn; Palmer Primary School (S.A.); Palmer & Districts Association; Country Arts SA (2007),
Palmer Primary School celebrates 125 years, 1882-2007, Palmer & Districts Association, retrieved 2 February 2019