Situated a top of a ridge over looking the Spencer Gulf and Yorke Valley, Maitland is geographically the central town on Yorke Peninsula. Due to higher rainfall than other parts of the Yorke Peninsula, Maitland is surrounded by some of the best barley country in Australia. The town's layout was designed to be like Adelaide with plenty of parklands and straight streets, making it a very pretty town. Maitland does not swell much during the tourist seasons, possibly due to the fact that it is not based on the sea. It is however the main town servicing many of the beach towns, and is only a short distance (15 minutes) from both the east and west coasts. Maitland has great community spirit with a number of events based around the town and is the base for the district football and netball.
Named after the wife of the First Lord of Kilkerran in Scotland, Lady Jean Maitland, the town was proclaimed in 1872. Initially Maitland was known as Yorke Valley. The native Aborigines, the Narungga tribe, called it Madi Waltu, meaning 'White Flint' in reference to the White Limestone Cliffs. The Maitland Hotel was one of the first buildings built in 1874; initially it was only one storey high and used as the local community hall.
Story of interest:
In the early days the licensees of hotels were required to use the hotel for other purposes than accommodation and the selling of liquor. Other uses include when there was no police station within two miles, it would receive corpses for the Coroner's inquest. The first police station was not built until 1879. Until the Courthouse was built in 1914 court cases were held in the Institute (The Maitland Hotel) and it would appear in some instances, in the parlour of the hotel.
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