Mintaro: The Historic town in the Mid North of South Australia
Drive just three kilometres from the historic town of Mintaro in the Clare Valley and you come to what looks like a film set from a bygone era - a piece of midnorth history. Local, Martin Smith explains:
“This is the Merildin Railway Station or Mintaro Railway Station as it was first called… then they changed the name to Merildin. It was a very busy line that used to go to Broken Hill. In the sixties I used to catch the train here. There used to be a ticket master over here and on the other side of the line there used to be huge big wheat stacks. My father worked here for probably forty odd years as a wheat buyer.”
The old station - with its rusting crane and empty railway shed harks back to a time when this part of the mid north was booming. The bales of wool from the nearby farms and the mountain of slate from the local quarry help explain the impressive array of heritage buildings in the town's main street. Mintaro was declared a State Heritage Area nearly twenty years ago. It was the first town in South Australia to receive such an honour and with the aid of a heritage brochure or a local like Martin Smith you can sample all of its delights.
But remember it's not a museum. The Post Office may offer bed and breakfast accommodation but there are still plenty of locals who drop into to pick up the mail - if they're quick. It’s only open for one hour a day.
Some days the number of overnight guests might rival the number of permanent residents as holiday-makers soak up the heritage atmosphere in places like the former Devonshire Hotel. Originally it was a temperance hotel built in 1856 now it’s one of the many self-contained accommodation options in the town.
“It’s a very substantial building, the Devonshire. There’s a big room at the back that used to be a ballroom - it’s still there. They used to hold dances there in the early days and underneath there's some big long rooms where the bullockies used to play skittles in the very early early years.”
In the eighteen forties and fifties an endless procession of bullockies made their way through Mintaro bringing copper from the nearby mines at Burra to Port Wakefield. The main street's a little quieter now.
“This building is The Teapot Inn on your left and the Mintaro Mews on the right. They're lovely old buildings that have been here since the start of the town.”
These days this charming little commercial strip dating back to the late 1850s offers self contained accommodation. And it’s where you’ll often the local Historical Society Members hard at work digging deep into Mintaro's past.
“These are the public cemetary records and you can see it gives the surname, the christian name, the age, the area they actually came from - Farrell's Flat in this case and the religion, Catholic - spelt incorrectly, the depth of the grave - seven foot four and the type of coffin they were buried in - cedar. And the officiating priest.”
The society members are worth catching up with as they’ll fill you in on the characters and stories of this historic town which is 110 kilomtres from Adelaide - just look for the signs on the way to Clare. For accommodation options and walking brochures contact the Clare Valley Visitor Centre in the Town Hall in the heart of Clare.
Clare Valley Visitor Centre - 1800 242 131
