Barabba includes the former government town of Aliceburgh which was proclaimed in 1879[3] and named for GovernorWilliam Jervois' daughter Alice.[4]
The name Barabba is derived from an Aboriginal word for an indigenous bulrush plant.[2] The town of Aliceburgh ceased to exist in 1897 and was resurveyed into larger workingmen's blocks. A Primitive Methodist Church opened in 1877.[5] The Barabba post office operated from 1877 until 1971. It operated from the school building until 1926. The school itself closed in 1960 and the building was destroyed by the 2015 Pinery bushfire. The final service in the church was held in 1967 and it has since been demolished.[6]
^ ab"Placename Details: Barabba (LOCB)". Property Location Browser Report. Government of South Australia. 27 March 2017. SA0004564. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
^"THE GOVERNMENT GAZETTE". The Express and Telegraph. Vol. XVI, no. 4, 645. South Australia. 11 July 1879. p. 3 (SECOND EDITION). Retrieved 26 March 2018 – via National Library of Australia. Lands are similarly reserved in the Hundred of Grace for a new town, to be called Aliceburgh.
^"Placename Details: Aliceburgh". Property Location Browser Report. Government of South Australia. 12 May 2011. SA0000810. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2018.