Forgotten Souls: Unmarked Graves of Mintaro Cemetery Revealed

Set behind an olive hedge 1 km west of the town centre, the
cemetery contains the earliest formal graves of settlers in the
district. Headstones of both marble and slate can be seen, the
earliest dating from 1858.

History
* Prior to the arrival of Europeans the area was home to the Ngadjuri First Nation people.

* In 1841 James Stein took up a pastoral holding about 3 km north of the site of Mintaro.

* Copper was discovered in Burra in 1845.

* In 1848 the Gulf Road between Burra and Port Wakefield was established.

* Land in the region was advertised for sale in 1849. The district was called 'Mintara' in the advertisements and it was promoted as being ideal for carters because there was plenty of feed and water.

* The Magpie & Stump Inn was first licensed in 1850.

* By 1853 mule teams were carting copper from Burra through the town. They were driven by Spanish-speaking muleteers.

* The town site was laid out in 1854 by Joseph and Henry Gilbert and divided into eight allotments. That same year the slate mine was opened by Peter Brady.

* By 1860 the town was producing most of the slate in South Australia.

* The town's economy collapsed when the copper from Burra started being moved by railway in 1870. The result was that Mintaro was held in aspic.

* By 1876 the town had a population of over 400.

* The Burra mines closed in 1877.

* Martindale Hall was built in 1879-1880.

* By 1880 the slate mines were employing over 50 men.

* In 1931 Walter Lindrum wrote to the Mintaro Slate company congratulating them on their billiard tables.

* In 1984 Mintaro became the first entire township in South Australia to be classified as a 'State Heritage Area'.

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