Signal Station, Semaphore1877. The Pilot is seated at the end of the wall & Signalman William Uden is leaning on the post. In the enclosure is the old wooden room in which the pilots on night duty slept. The two storey house was owned by Richard Jagoe, the shipping reporter.State Library of South Australia South Australian Database number B 2408
THE FLYING BALL NEXT TO THE FLYING KNIFE!
High on the sand hill next to The Flying Knife still stands the Timeball Tower part of the communications centre begun in the late 1800s.
Up to twenty or more ship's captains anchored offshore would wait for the big black disc to drop down its high pole at precisely 1.00pm each day.
They needed to rate their chronometers to navigate their way across the oceans with South Australian wheat and wool.
Once it was a pivotal communications centre for the isolated colony of South Australia.
The mail office on the Semaphore Road / Esplanade corner sorted the bags off the pilot boats.
Vital commercial messages from London and precious personal news had taken months to arrive.
By 1856 an official Government signal station had been set up at the corner of Semaphore Road and The Esplanade.
Signalmen on watch recorded the identity, arrival, departure and destination of all ship in the Gulf They also relayed information on water depth, tides and
instructions for loading and discharging cargoes.
Maritime pilots, had to live within one mile of the station, and each had a
person flag which summoned him when a ship required a pilot. The signal
Station grew increasingly complex over the years and became a picturesque landmark.
Semaphore's importance as a communications centre was confirmed when a Telegraph and Post Office was established in 1856. The Time Ball Tower was erected in 1875 adjacent to the Signal Station. Before wireless time-signals were invented these towers were found at all main ports throughout the world. The district was very isolated until a precarious wooden bridge, later replaced by the Jervois Bridge, was opened in 1859.
HISTORY NEXT TO THE FLYING KNIFEMarine signalling station, Semaphore in 1909. State Library of South Australia South Australian Database Image number B 34746
The signalling station and residences at Semaphore, a view of the foreshore taken from the sea in1923. State Library of South Australia South Australian Database Imagenumber B 60779
Plaque on Timeball Tower next to The Flying Knife.