Naracoorte was formed from the merger of two towns, Kincraig, founded in 1845 by Scottish explorer William Macintosh, and Narracoorte, established as a government settlement in 1847. The name has gone through a number of spellings, and is believed to be derived from the Aboriginal words for place of running water or large waterhole. It grew during the 1850s as a service town for people going to and from the Victorian gold rush. The Post Office opened on 22 March 1853 and was known as Mosquito Plains until 1861. The District Council of Naracoorte was proclaimed in August 1870 to locally govern the lands of the Hundred of Naracoorte. In 1888 the size of the district was dramatically expanded to include surrounding areas not yet locally governed. As a consequence, in February 1924 the Corporate Town of Naracoorte was established to provide dedicated local governance to the township. The Kingston-Naracoorte railway line was closed on 28 November 1987 and dismantled on 15 September 1991 following the Mount Gambier to Wolseley line closed on 12 April 1995 still pending for gauge standardization. Since 1993 Naracoorte has been locally governed by the amalgamated Naracoorte Lucindale Council. It is in the state electoral district of MacKillop and the federal Division of Barker.
Industry
The town has historically relied largely on sheep, cattle and wheat farming. In recent decades, tourism has become a major industry due to the town's proximity to several wine regions and internationally-recognised natural features. Both the World-Heritage-listed Naracoorte Caves National Park, the Ramsar-listedBool and Hacks Lagoons are south of the township. The wine regions of Coonawarra and Wrattonbully lie further south, while the Padthaway lies to the north, placing Naracoorte at the centre of the three. Other places of interest to tourists include:
There are three schools: Naracoorte High on Stewart Terrace, Naracoorte Primary on Park Terrace and Naracoorte South Primary. Independent schools include Naracoorte Christian School on Caves Road.
Service stations - MoGas, Mobil, Caltex, Shell and On The Run
Supermarkets - Woolworths, Kincraig Plaza and Foodland
Transport - Bus station at 170 Smith Street
Food services - Naracoorte Pizza House, McDonald's, Sweet Espresso and W T Morris And Son's Bakery
Media
The town is home to The Naracoorte Herald, a newspaper published in the town since 1948. Prior to that, the newspaper had used the older spelling of the town, and was known as The Narracoorte Herald, which had begun publication on 14 December 1875. It is now part of Fairfax Media, with the Fairfax regional office located in the town on Smith Street. In 1912, a nearby publication, the Tatiara and Lawloit News, which also printed in Naracoorte, was absorbed into the Herald.
