Melrose is the oldest town in the Flinders Ranges , a mountain range in South Australia . The city lies at the foot of Mount Remarkable , 265 km north of Adelaide . The first European to travel through the area was Edward John Eyre in 1840. A little later, settlers followed and established farms in the area. After the first discoveries of copper , its mining began in 1846. This proved to be uneconomical and was discontinued in 1851. The mine was reopened and closed three times by 1917.
Today Melrose is the starting point for visitors to Mount Remarkable National Park and a local center for local farmers. At the 2011 census it had 347 inhabitants.
The police station in Melrose, opened in 1848, was the location of the largest police district in the world at the time. A policeman, two horsemen and a tracker from the Australian Aborigines were responsible for an area up to the Timor Sea .
