Mayor of Main Street: 142-year-old town hall hits market for sub-$600k

If you want to start off 2026 feeling like the mayor of your very own town, a new opportunity to buy a town hall for less than $600,000 is here.

In Peterborough, South Australia, 110 Main Street is currently listed with a price guide of $565,000 to $595,000 by Jeff and Gerda Oakley of Nutrien Harcourts SA.

Main Street in Peterborough, South Australia. Picture: Getty

If this sounds good to you, keep in mind that the District Council of Peterborough probably wouldn’t like it if you called yourself mayor of the town – the incumbent is Ruth Whittle OAM.

Peterborough is about three hours north of Adelaide or an hour-and-a-half to Port Augusta, the latter of which has been earmarked as one of Australia’s more affordable beachside towns.

Adelaide, too, has been one of the hottest capital city markets over the past couple of years. For residential properties, the city of churches posted 12.8% price growth in 2025 and now sits at a median of $908,000, according to PropTrack.

Contrast this with the rest of SA where the median property value ended 2025 at $489,000, representing annual growth of 11.7%.

Think of the dates, discos and debates that have happened in this place. Picture: realestate.com.au

Nutrien Harcourts’ Gerda Oakley said the wheatbelt presents fantastic buying opportunities.

“We get a lot of people moving out here because houses are more affordable in the country – you could buy a home in Peterborough for a lot cheaper than Adelaide,” Ms Oakley said.

Peterborough has a population of a little over 1,400 and sits just off the Barrier Highway that goes to Broken Hill, NSW. It was established in 1869; the town hall was originally constructed in 1884, so it’s a longstanding icon of the wheatbelt hamlet.

Ms Oakley said the town hall has worn many hats in its time.

“It’s the original town hall, then became a town library,” she said. “It was owner occupied, and it was an art gallery for a while, so it’s had a colourful history.”

The town hall has seen a lot of uses in its time and boasts a full kitchen. Picture: realestate.com.au

The current vendors, who are Victorians, opened it as a café and spent lots of effort tidying it up, but eventually the interstate travel got to be too much.

If you’re wondering how the town hall can wear so many hats, it’s designated as a ‘township main street’ or TMS building. It’s classed as local heritage, so there are typically fewer restrictions on the use and renovation of a property.

Upstairs living quarters complete with chandelier and crown mouldings. Picture: realestate.com.au

For Peterborough, amenities and attractions in the town include the Railway Hotel, and the ‘big green frog’ – one of Australia’s ‘big’ attractions akin to the big pineapple, prawn, or merino. It also has a Chargefox electric vehicle charging station for those making the drive.

Peterborough is proud of its locomotive history, with a railway museum and old train station right in town. However, the museum is temporarily closed with aims to re-open it in 2026. In 2025, the ABC revealed it has cost council coffers $1.5 million since opening in 2009.