GOOLWA

town, southeastern South Australia, near the mouth of the Murray River, 40 mi (65 km) southeast of Adelaide. It is located on the Goolwa Channel, there crossed by a barrage (1939) to prevent tidal inflow and to control water draining from the estuarine Lake Alexandrina to the sea. Once (1836) considered as a possible site for the state capital, it had by the 1850s become an important river port, with large shipbuilding and brewing facilities, and had earned the name New Orleans of Australia. Goolwa declined, however, when the railways reached towns on the Murray and river transport died out. Goolwa is Aboriginal for "elbow," referring to a nearby bend in the Murray. The town is now a centre for beef and dairy cattle, sheep, and wheat growing. Pop. (1981) 1,624.