Adora Downs was once part of the enormous land holding of black soil rolling open plains which belonged to Sir James Tyson M.L.C., Australia's native born first self-made millionaire, a cattle king and bachelor who died intestate in 1898 aged 79 years.
It took the government until 1911 to sort out his huge estate, the land was surveyed into small holdings of 200 acres each, for closer settlement. The holdings were settled and the virgin soils ploughed with single and double furrow ploughs, drawn by draught horses and steered by farmers on foot. Today high-technical, wide span machinery is drawn by large computerised tractors.
The rich black soil is 60 feet deep and produces a wealth of cereal crops such as wheat, barley, sorghum, corn and sunflowers etc., along with hi-grade cotton, broadacre farming and beef cattle grazing adding diversity to the neighbouring holdings. There are several volcanic mountains in the area, Taylor, Tyson and Russell which span within close proximity of Adora Downs.
Adora Downs was purchased from the crown in 1911 by Erwin Charles Frederic, who later sold to William Wagner in 1927. The Wagner family commenced a successful milking dairy along with agricultural produce. After their deaths, their son, Frank and daughter, Annie both of whom never married continued to farm mainly beef cattle. After their deaths, Adora Downs was purchased in 1982 by Boyd and Gloria Smith. This was only part of Frank Wagner's holdings estate of $2.5m, which be bequeathed to the Methodist Church of Pitsworth.
After an eleven year drought on the Downs, Boyd and Gloria decided to share their paradise by diversifying into farm tourism.
