Prior to British settlement, the location that became Port Pirie was occupied by the
Nukunu Aboriginal people, who called the location was called Tarparrie, which is suspected to mean "Muddy Creek". The first European to see the location was
Matthew Flinders in 1802, as he explored the Spencer Gulf by boat. The first land discovery of the location by a European was by the explorer
Edward Eyre, who explored regions around
Port Augusta.
John Horrocks also discovered a pass through the Flinders Ranges to the coast, now named
Horrocks Pass. The town was originally called Samuel's Creek after the discovery of Muddy Creek by
Samuel Germein. In 1846, Port Pirie Creek was named by Governor Robe after the , the first vessel to navigate the creek when transporting sheep from Bowman's Run near Crystal Brook. In 1848, Matthew Smith and
Emanuel Solomon bought and subdivided it as a township to be known as Port Pirie. Little development occurred on site and by the late 1860s there were only three woolsheds on the riverfront. The locality was surveyed as a government town in December 1871 by Charles Hope Harris. The thoroughfares and streets were named after the family of
George Goyder, Surveyor General of South Australia. In 1873, the land of Solomon and Smith was re-surveyed and named Solomontown. On 28 September 1876, with a population of 947, Port Pirie was declared a municipality. With the discovery of rich ore bearing silver, lead and zinc at
Broken Hill in 1883, and the completion of a narrow gauge railway from Port Pirie to near the Broken Hill field in 1888, the economic activities of the town underwent profound change. In 1889 a lead smelter was built by the British Blocks company to treat the Broken Hill ore.
BHP initially leased the smelter from British Blocks but began constructing its own smelter from 1892. In 1913, the Russian consul-general
Alexander Abaza reported that Port Pirie had a population of more than 500 Russians, mostly
Ossetians, who had come to work at the smelter. At that time the town supported a Russian-language school and library. In 1915, the smelter was taken over by Broken Hill Associated Smelters (BHAS) – a joint venture of companies operating in Broken Hill. Led by the Collins House Group, by 1934 BHAS became the biggest lead smelter in the world. The smelter gradually passed to
Pasminco, then
Zinifex, and since 2007 has been operated by
Nyrstar. In 1921, the town's population had grown to 9,801, living in 2,308 occupied dwellings. By this date, there were 62 boarding houses to cater for the labour demands at the smelter, and the increasingly busy waterfront. During
World War II (1941–1943), a Bombing and Gunnery school (2BAGS) was established by the
Royal Air Force at Port Pirie. 22 men lost their lives there during training exercises. It was re-designated the 3 Aerial Observers School (3AOS) in December 1943. In August 1955, the purpose-built Port Pirie Uranium Treatment Complex, operated by the state government under a contract signed by the
Commonwealth and SA Governments with the
Combined Development Agency of the UK and US, began operations. It processed
uranium ore, mostly from the
Radium Hill mine east of the
Flinders Ranges, and also from
Myponga (Wild Dog Hill), south of
Adelaide. Sulphuric acid leaching was used on the ore to dissolve the uranium, which eventually emerged as
yellowcake after further processing. There were four thickening tanks, used to separated the uranium solids from the waste material, and the thickened solids were pumped into the
tailings dams. The plant produced over 860 tonnes of yellowcake, which was sold to the governments of the UK and US. and with the expiry of the CDA contract at on 31 December 1961, the Port Pirie uranium treatment complex was closed in February 1962. Heritage-listed sites include: • 1 Alexander Street:
Barrier Chambers Offices • 32 Ellen Street:
Adelaide Steamship Company Building • 64–68 Ellen Street:
Sampson's Butcher Shop • 69–71 Ellen Street:
Port Pirie Customs House • 73–77 Ellen Street:
Port Pirie (Ellen Street) railway station • 79–81 Ellen Street:
Port Pirie Post Office • 85 Ellen Street:
Development Board Building • 94 Ellen Street: Sample Rooms, rear of
Portside Tavern • 134 Ellen Street:
Family Hotel • 32 Florence Street:
Carn Brae • 50–52 Florence Street:
Waterside Workers' Federation Building • 105 Gertrude Street:
Good Samaritan Catholic Convent School • Memorial Drive:
Second World War Memorial Gates • 5 Norman Street:
AMP Society Building, Port Pirie ==Demographics==