Prior to European settlement the area was inhabited by the Ngarrindjeri people. They made bark and reed canoes, and lived on the fish and animals residing beside the river. Once written as "Tail'em Bend", the origin of the town's name is still argued over. Some attribute it to a corruption of the Ngarrindjeri word "thelim" meaning "bend", associated with the sharp bend that the Murray River makes in this location. Others yet say that original Ngarrindjeri inhabitants called this part of the river ‘Thelum Ki’ which means bent water.
European settlement
In 1884 while building the railway line to the eastern state of Victoria, the track laying gang set up camp amongst some native pine trees and naming that particular site ‘Pine Camp’ from then on the local township began to grow. The town was proclaimed in 1887, the year after the railway opened for traffic. At the 2016 census, Tailem Bend had a population of 1,665.
There are large grain storage silos and bunkers, where branch lines into the Murray Mallee join the main line. The last two branches were the Pinnaroo railway line and the Loxton railway line via Karoonda. The Loxton line was originally one of five branch lines from the Barmera railway line and was the last to remain in service. It was the only branch to be converted to standard gauge when the main line was converted from broad gauge, however they remained as light rail and ballast with low speed limits. They were only used for collection of bulk grain, as the speed limits are too low to be practical for transport of time-sensitive freight. Both closed in July 2015. The Pinnaroo line continues as the original broad gauge into Victoria to Ouyen where it joins the Mildura to Melbourne line. As the South Australian line closed, the Victorian government was upgrading its end of the line for regional freight. Tailem Bend station was once a significant junction station for passenger trains on the Mallee lines, and home to a locomotive depot.
Highways
Tailem Bend is on the Princes Highway 20 km from the end of the South Eastern Freeway to Adelaide. From Tailem Bend, there is a choice of the Dukes Highway as the direct route to Melbourne, the Princes Highway along the Coorong and coast towards Melbourne, or the Mallee Highway east towards Sydney. There is also a road connecting to the Karoonda Highway leading to Loxton and the Riverland. Tailem Bend is a common stopping point for truck drivers travelling to and/or from Adelaide, as there are no fuel or food outlets with truck facilities on the South Eastern Freeway.
The Bend motorsport park
In March 2016, construction commenced on The Bend Motorsport Park. The first Supercars Championship race meeting at the track was held on 24–26 August 2018. The Motorsport park has hosted the 25th Australian Jamboree for Scouts Australia, which went from 4 to 14 January 2019. The race track also holds an annual racing event called the OTR supersprint
Notable people
Notable people from or who have lived in Tailem Bend include:
George Jaensch, Northern Territorian telegraph operator and post master, and South Australian farmer and grazier
David Unaipon, preacher, inventor, author, and featured on the Australian $50 note
