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History
Marree was laid out and proclaimed in 1883, one year ahead of the extending narrow-gauge Great Northern railway which reached there in 1884 and then swung north-west along the arc of mound springs to follow the water-safe route taken earlier by the Overland Telegraph line to Darwin.
This left Marree as the nearest South Australian railhead to the far north-east of the State and the channel country of south-west Queensland. It was later to become a major railhead for cattle walked down from these areas along the legendary Birdsville Track stock route.
Despite its formal proclamation it was, for many years, known as Hergott – a name derived from the nearby Hergott Springs that were discovered in 1859 by a member of John McDouall Stuart’s second expedition through the area. All the residents of the town referred to it as Hergott and it was not until 1918 that the Hergott Springs sign at the railway station was replaced with Marree.
Even after road transport replaced the overlanding of cattle to rail Marree retained a strong railway connection as a gauge-change station on the Ghan railway line to Alice Springs until 1980 when the new standard gauge line from Tarcoola was opened.
Marree is also closely and strongly associated with camels and the Afghan cameleers. When the railhead moved north from Farina to Hergott in 1884 many of the Afghan camel drivers and their teams came too. They were the outgoing and incoming goods and mail connections between the remote north-east stations and the railway town. They plied their trade until the 1920s and 30s when motor trucks driven by legendary mailmen like Harry Ding and Tom Kruse began regular mail and goods runs up and down the Birdsville Track.
Today Marree’s European and Aboriginal population of about 150 still includes a smattering of people of Afghan descent.
Special attractions
Marree is strategically placed as the southern jumping-off point for both the Birdsville Track to the north-east and the Oodnadatta Track that follows the old narrow gauge railway and Overland Telegraph line north-west through William Creek to Oodnadatta.
The town is also reasonably close to Lake Eyre South and charter flights over the Lake can be taken from the sealed Marree airstrip. Aerial views are also still available of the immense outline of the ‘Marree Man’ mysteriously etched into the country on the Finniss Springs Aboriginal lands.
The old railway precinct at Marree has been refurbished to include an Internet centre, a tourist information bay and renovated railway infrastructure. One of the original Afghan brush-rooved mosques is also intact and can be inspected.
Tourist services
The town provides a hotel and two caravan parks with cabin accommodation. There are two service centres, police, a health clinic, post office and an Aboriginal school.
Community Economic Development Plan 
PDF
