HISTORY
INTERSTATE TRADE
Between 1860 and 1880 Milang was one of South Australia's busiest ports, connecting Adelaide, which was only 47 miles (87 km) away, with the thriving river trade which reached into the heart of the three Eastern colonies.
Wool from the Darling and Upper Murray stations was landed at Milang and then transported by horse and bullock teams to Port Adelaide. Wheat was transported to Milang, processed at its flour mills and then shipped back as flour.
Foreign goods shipped into Adelaide were then exported to Victoria and New South Wales through Milang, making over half of the Colony's total exports in the years 1868 to 1872.
ACROSS THE LAKE
From early on in the period of European occupation Milang's position meant that it was a key link in any travel across the lakes. The site of the town was originally determined because it was the place where the road from Strathalbyn joined the Lake crossing to Malcolm's Station, Poltalloch.
In the 1860s Captain George Jeffrey Wallace was engaged in the mail service from Milang to Meningie and continued in this work for over twenty years. In 1881, when Master of the P.S. Dispatch, he took Princes George and Albert from Milang to Meningie.
In 1877, for those who didn't like the sea voyage to Melbourne from Adelaide it was possible to travel overland if you didn’t mind a few changes on the way. First there was John Hill & Co’s coach to Strathalbyn and on to Milang. After crossing the Lakes to Meningie in the Dispatch the journey continued by coach to Kingston, train to Naracoorte, various coach services through Penola, Casterton and Hamilton to Ararat and then by train through Ballarat and Geelong to Melbourne. The whole journey would have taken at least four days.
From 1903 to 1930 the Lake service was run by the P.S. Jupiter under Captain Dan Cremer (pictured below), making the return trip to Meningie three times a week. This period of twenty-seven years is regarded as the longest period of service by a skipper and his boat in the history of the Murray.