Orroroo is a town in the Yorke and Mid North region of South Australia. At the 2016 census, the locality of Orroroo had a population of 610 while its urban centre had a population of 537. The Wilmington-Ucolta Road passes through here, intersecting with the RM Williams Way which leads to the Birdsville and Oodnadatta Tracks. The Peterborough–Quorn railway line extended from Peterborough to Orroroo also in 1881 and Quorn in 1882, connecting with the new Central Australia Railway from Port Augusta. These railways have now been abandoned. Orroroo is situated near Goyder's Line, a line drawn up in 1865 by Surveyor General Goyder which he believed indicated the edge of the area suitable for agriculture.
The main street of Orroroo
Pekina Creek dam circa 1906
Trophy won by W. C. Addison in Ottawa, Canada
Town entrance
Goyder's Line is a line that runs roughly east–west across South Australia and, in effect, joins places with an average annual rainfall of 10 inches (250 mm). North of Goyder's Line, annual rainfall is usually too low to support cropping, with the land being suitable only for grazing. Related to that, the line also marks a distinct change in vegetation. To the south, it is composed mainly of mallee scrub, whilst saltbush predominates to the north of the line.
Satellite image of vegetation and desert in South Australia. George Goyder provided advice as to the geographic limits of crop growing in South Australia.