Cradock is in the Flinders Ranges Council area, the state Electoral district of Stuart and the federal Division of Grey.

[1] After the South Australian government permitted settlers to go into the semi-arid lands north of Goyder's Line Cradock was established in 1879 on a 'grassy flat' of 'strong red loam', by the Wirreanda Creek.

[6] Soon after settlement, a school, police station, two hotels, two blacksmith shops and a saddler were operating in Cradock.

The "wheat rush" was followed by the failure of four years of crops which led to an increasing despair and a loss of many of the town's population.

[9] The historic former St Gabriel's Catholic Church designed by Thomas Burgoyne in Main Street is listed on the South Australian Heritage Register.