Innamincka

Innamincka is a tiny settlement in north-east South Australia. It is 1065 km northeast of Adelaide and 459 km from Lyndhurst up the Strzelecki Track. It is situated on the banks of Cooper Creek in the state's Channel Country, and surrounded by the Strzelecki, Tirari and Sturt Stony Deserts. It is situated within Innamincka Regional Reserve. At the 2006 census, Innamincka had a population of 131.HistoryThe area was the traditional home of the Yandruwandha, Aborigines. The first European to visit the area was Charles Sturt in 1845. He was followed by A C Gregory in 1858 and then Burke and Wills. A monument to Sturt and Burke and Wills was erected in Innamincka in 1944.In 1882 a police camp was set up that allowed a small settlement to develop. Commencing 7 April 1889, a Royal Mail coach ran fortnightly from Farina, operated by merchants Davey and Pilkington. Originally called Hopetoun, Innamincka was proclaimed a township in 1890. Hopetoun was named after the Governor of Victoria, the Earl of Hopetoun but it was never popular with locals. The town was never very large, but had a hotel, a store and a police station which, until Federation in 1901, acted as the customs post for collecting duties on cattle brought overland from Queensland into South Australia. In 1928 the Australian Inland Mission (a part of the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia) built a hospital here, the Elizabeth Symon Nursing Home. Severe drought and poor access to the settlement resulted in the closure of the hotel and the hospital. In 1951 the police post closed and the town was abandoned.