Serviceton: Railway History, Border Art and Golf

Serviceton offers three very different reasons to visit: the railway station on the Melbourne–Adelaide rail line, a mural about the surveying of the border, and a golf course along the boundary between Victoria and South Australia. The themes range from historic infrastructure and the drawing of state borders to art and sport. Depending on your interests, you can think of the town as a destination for railway history, the border story or golf; the facts about each reveal a different side of Serviceton.

Railway history between the states

Serviceton railway station was built in 1888 and is on the Melbourne–Adelaide rail line. The station includes original customs offices, where duties were collected on goods transported between the states. It also has holding cells for prisoners transferred between the states. These spaces draw attention to more than train traffic: they show two historic roles the station played in handling goods and people on the route between the states.

Since the 1980s, Mr Millikin has guided visitors through the historic station as a dedicated volunteer tour guide. Tours can be arranged, subject to the availability of volunteers. If you would like to include a tour in your stay, take this dependency into account when planning.

Border history as a mural

Serviceton Silo Art is a public art site at 14 Elizabeth Street in Serviceton. The mural explores the 1847 border surveying error between South Australia and Victoria and was completed in November 2025. The dates refer to different things: 1847 is when the surveying error occurred, while November 2025 marks the completion of the mural. In this way, the work connects a historic border issue with a later artistic interpretation. It offers a different perspective on Serviceton’s border story from the station’s customs and holding-cell functions.

The station tells the story of how goods and transferred prisoners were handled in traffic between the states; the mural, by contrast, focuses on the surveying of the border itself. This lets you explore two different questions: How was this traffic managed, and how was the border surveyed?

A golf course with its own local history

Serviceton Golf Club is an 18-hole sand-scrape course on gently undulating, sandy loam along the boundary between Victoria and South Australia. The club is located on the former Lockhart Racecourse site. The sand-scrape course lies on gently undulating sandy loam on the former racecourse grounds. If you are considering making golf a focus of your trip, you can weigh these features against the town’s historical attractions. Check the current visitor conditions before planning a round.

Camping nearby

One specific camping option nearby is Serviceton Camping Ground at Serviceton Recreation Reserve. It is 1 km south of Serviceton. There are powered and unpowered sites, toilets, showers and a recreation room with games. The campground also offers access to an oval and tennis courts. When planning a camping trip, you can consider the location and type of site together: the campground is south of town, and sites are available with or without power. This helps you factor this accommodation option into your travel plans based on its location and the facilities listed.

Discover more destinations

Discover more destinations: Black Rock, Yellingbo, Kilsyth, Moyreisk, San Remo, Wye River, Nungurner, Curlewis

For the main travel guide: Victoria.