Mintaro, South Australia

Mintaro is an historic town in the eastern Clare Valley, about 128 km north of Adelaide, South Australia. The town lies at the south-eastern corner of the Hundred of Clare, and is pronounced "min-TAIR-oh" by the locals. The entire town of Mintaro was declared a State Heritage Area for South Australia in 1984.HistoryEuropeans explored the Mintaro district in mid-1839, firstly John Hill and then Edward John Eyre. The first European settler was pastoralist James Stein who from 1841 held occupation licences for extensive sheep runs stretching from Mount Horrocks through Farrell Flat to the Burra district.Stein established his homestead on a tributary of the Wakefield River, in a vale beneath Mount Horrocks, about three kilometres west of present Mintaro, naming it Kadlunga, Aboriginal for 'sweet hills' after the abundant honeysuckle there. In following decades, with a succession of owners, Kadlunga Station became a famed sheep and horse stud. The historic stone buildings of the Kadlunga Estate are listed on the Register of the National Estate.The town was founded in 1854 by Joseph and Henry Gilbert on land purchased by Henry Gilbert in July 1849.Originally, and for several years, Mintaro was a busy watering stop for throngs of bullock teams travelling the Gulf Road between the copper mining town of Burra and Port Wakefield, transporting copper and coal for the Patent Copper Company.