For 50 years people have been taken back in time at the Loxton Historical Village, to experience how the region's early settlers spent their days.
On September 2, the historical village volunteers and visitors celebrated the 50 years since it opened - on that exact date in 1973.
Set in the period of 1850-1970, the village is situated below the iconic Loxton pepper tree that is believed to have been planted after the hut of William Charles Loxton was built near by.
Village volunteer and curator Roselyn Sincock, Loxton, said the historical village had been a long-term tourist attraction that had caught the attention of many people.
"We would like to see it to continue, because the children of today have no idea just how hard it was for the pioneers to establish the area," she said.
"We're so fortunate that they've built it up to a place that is so enjoyable to live in.
"We need to keep that history too so future generations know just how difficult it was to live in those situations when they had no electricity or running water."
Twice a year the village holds Alive Days, which has visitors enjoy the exhibits from the shearing shed to the general store.
The school at the village offered students an interesting insight into what schooling used to be like, Roselyn said.
"It's unusual for the children, because they don't have schooling like they did in the old days," she said.
"They enjoy sitting there and writing in their pen and ink and having the teacher scolding them, which doesn't happen these days."
Looking to the future, Roselyn said it would be great to expand the village.
"We would love to expand, however it's time, money and volunteers and we're very short on everything," she said.
"We're fortunate with the volunteers we have, they're very talented and we utilise those talents."
The flood last year prompted a few concerns for the village, Roselyn said.
"We would've packed over 200 boxes of goods that were precious to us and took them off-sight," she said.
"We were fortunate with the levee that was built to stop the water coming through and if that hadn't been built we would've been flooded.
"It's only now that we've actually opened up all the boxes and put things back on display and it's been a long hard journey."
During the flood, Roselyn said the village received support.
"When we were packing that's when the volunteers came out of the wood work," she said.
"We had lot of people that offered support and packed boxes carefully."
Roselyn said the anniversary day went well with beautiful weather and was well organised.
"We had approximately 700 people come through the gates and we were very happy with the crowds," she said.
Roselyn said the anniversary played host to several invited guests, in addition to the Governor General of SA the Honourable Frances Adamson AC.
She said there was also representation from both local MPs, Tony Pasin and Tim Whetstone, locally-based MLC Nicola Centofanti and Loxton-Waikerie mayor Trevor Norton.
One special guest was the SA History Trust curator Amanda Jones, who came up from Adelaide.
After being challenged by the emergence of COVID-19 and the recent flood, Roselyn said it was was good to get back a sense of normality.
"It was good to get the exhibits back into their rightful places," she said.
During the anniversary, Roselyn said there was approximately 60 to 70 volunteers who helped.
"There were people who volunteered to put the marquees up and take them down," she said.
"There were volunteers who worked on the sites and volunteers who worked in the kitchens."
