Hampden is a small town located some 5km North West of Eudunda. It was once a thriving township, having among other things a large hardware store rivaling others in the district (including Eudunda’s), and services such as a post office, telephone exchange and deli. A major cause of its prosperity was its railway station, where the volume of loading of bagged wheat and other grains and supplies for the Southern towns kept the townsfolk busy. The station also offered a valuable passenger service, with trains for Eudunda, Robertstown and Morgan passing through. Hampden was one of the highest railway stations in the the state, and the cutting from the station on the Eudunda side was a favourite spot for young and old to enjoy watching the steam trains passing by.
Thw town had its origins in 1906 when parts of Anlaby Station were first subdivided into smaller farms. It was named for William Hampden Dutton, brother of Frederick Dutton, who established Anlaby Station. A siding on the Morgan railway line (which had run through the area since 1878) was built in 1909. A store at Hampden Siding opened in 1911, followed by a post office, telephone exchange and other services.
After World War II, the town slowly slid into decline. Railway passenger services ended in December 1968 and the last freight train ran through Hampden in March 1994, by which time the telephone exchange had been closed for 12 years. Today Hampden is a sleepy relaxed town of less than a hundred people with farms surrounding it.
The Eudunda Hampden Rail Trail follows the path of the Morgan Railway line between Eudunda and Hampden. It is a project which aims is to upgrade the 3.4 kilometre rail corridor for walking any cycling. Being a relatively short walk or cycle ride makes it a pleasure to ride, especially in the knowledge that you can have a great coffee in the bakery or one of the other shops in Eudunda at the end.
Lavender Federation Trail
Hampden is on the is Lavender Federation Trail, a linear walking/cycling trail through diverse countryside traversing the eastern flanks of the Mt Lofty Ranges. It begins at Murray Bridge and traverses the Barossa, Goyder, Mid North and the Clare Valley regions to Clare. The Trail celebrates 100 years since the 1901 Federation of Australia and the memory of Terry Lavender OAM, whose vision established this trail from Murray Bridge to Clare. The Main trail is 325 kilometres with connecting trails providing an additional 96 km. It intersects with the Kidman, Mawson, Heysen and Riesling Trails and links to trails within the Kinchina Conservation Park at Monarto.
The railway line to Kapunda, which passes through Hampden and became the Morgan Railway Line, was the first extension of the Adelaide and Gawler line. It was built initially to service the copper mining at Kapunda, and opened on 13 August 1860, and then extended to Morgan on the Murray River in 1878 to provide a more efficient freight and passenger connection between the Murray paddle steamers and both the city of Adelaide and Port Adelaide for ocean transport.
Morgan Railway Line
The line passed through Roseworthy from where the Peterborough line later branched. The line headed northeast from Roseworthy to reach Freeling, then the line crossed the River Light just south of Kapunda. The extension continued through Hansborough, running across the River Light once again and Pine Creek before reaching Hampden, then turning south and going through a steep descent into Eudunda. From there, the line curved northwards towards the junction for the Robertstown line, then heading west across the plains adjacent to what is now the Thiele Highway to Morgan. The Robertstown line branch opened in 1914 from Eudunda to Robertstown, passing through Point Pass along the way. The Eudunda to Morgan section of the line was closed on 2 November 1969, the Kapunda to Eudunda section closed on 11 March 1994.
