Port MacDonnell, South Australia

Port MacDonnell is the southernmost town in South Australia. The small port located on the Great Australian Bight in the Limestone Coast region about 477km southeast of Adelaide and 28km south of Mount Gambier in the District Council of Grant local government area had a population of 623 in the.Once a busy shipping port, the town now relies heavily on its fishing and summer tourism industries, particularly rock lobster harvest industry, proclaiming itself "Australia's Southern Rock Lobster Capital".HistoryThe area was originally inhabited by the Bungandidj Aborigines.The first Europeans to see the area were led by explorer Lieutenant James Grant in HMS Lady Nelson on 3 December 1800. In 1860 the area was proclaimed an official port, was given a name, and was surveyed. It is named after Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell who was Governor of South Australia from 1855 to 1862.In the 1880s, it was one of Australia's busiest ports, shipping large quantities of wheat and wool to Europe.