Inneston. Gypsum mining town 1913 to 1930. Now a ghost town in Innes National Park. The ruins of the general store. View from the Institute which was used as the school .
Inneston.
The southern tip of Yorke Peninsula is now a large National Park(Innes) surrounded by the ocean and many islands on three sides and Investigator Strait which separates Yorke Peninsula from Kangaroo Island. Some of the sites on southern Yorke Peninsula were named by Captain Matthew Flinders when he charted South Australia’s coastline in 1802. There were three main settlements in this region, all run as gypsum mining sites or ports handling gypsum exports, and all run by the same gypsum mining company. The three sites were linked by mining railways from the coast inland to the town of Inneston and to Lake Marion. The earliest settlement was Marion Bay with gypsum coming from Lake Marion, then the secondary mining centre was developed at Lake Inneston (1913-1930) and then the port facilities were moved to Stenhouse. Since Stenhouse Bay and mining closed in 1972 only the town of Marion Bay exists just outside of the National Park.
This small fishing and holiday town appears to have been named after the wreck of the steamer Marion. The steamer left Port Adelaide for Wallaroo on the 10th July 1862 but was ship wrecked near Cape Spencer on the 12th July. On that day the Captain of the Lubra, another steamer, saw smoke coming from a nearby bay. The life boats from the Marion had rescued the 50 passengers and crew and got them off the wreck to the bottom of the cliffs and then to a nearby sandy bay. Then they were transported to the Lubra. Shortly afterwards the Marion passengers boarded the steamer Lubra the stranded Marion broke up and disappeared on the rocks. The passengers were than taken back to Port Adelaide by the Lubra. But another boat was ship wrecked here also called the Marion in 1851 so it might have been named after that wreck. The Hundred of Warrenben was declared in 1877 and some farmers and settlers moved to the region. Some years later in the early 1880s William Innes discovered a form of limestone inland from the coast and several short term mining companies emerged to mine the gypsum. This limestone was treated to produce gypsum an essential ingredient of plaster which was used by the building industry and it was used as a fertiliser for agriculture. In 1889 a syndicate established the Australian Gypsum and Whiting Company and built their own small jetty at Marion Bay. In the early years the gypsum as transported in small boats to waiting ketches in the bay. The gypsum was transported on light rail tracks to the coast from Lake Marion. The mining company was taken over by A Hassell in 1898. The wooden railway tracks were eventually replaced with steel ones and steam engines used for transporting the gypsum from Lake Marion and later from Lake Inneston with a connecting railway from Marion Bay to Stenhouse Bay. In 1930 the port facilities were moved from Marion Bay to Stenhouse Bay and the town of Stenhouse Bay was established soon after. The Marion Bay School operated from 1919 to 1938. When closed it was moved in 1938 to Stenhouse Bay. Stenhouse Bay School opened in 1938. There it served as the Stenhouse Bay hall and school until its closure in 1974. Next to it was a weatherboard teacher’s residence which still stands. The only public buildings in Marion Bay in recent decades has been the general store and the hotel.
Just south of Marion Bay the Innes National Park was created in 1972 after the gypsum mining and production at Inneston ceased. It is now known as the Innes Dhilba Guuranda National Park. It contains the ghost town of Inneston, Lake Inneston, Lake Marion etc and spectacular coastline. A modern lighthouse at Cape Spencer (1970) replaced the lighthouse on Althorpe Island and another lighthouse is located at West Cape (1980). Beyond West Cape is Pondalowie Bay with its South, Middle and North islands. Althorpe Island was named by Captain Matthew Flinders in 1802. An inter colonial meeting of the colonies in 1873 agreed upon a number of necessary lighthouses to try and ensure safety of major shipping routes including Investigator Strait between Kangaroo Island and Yorke Peninsula. Construction of Althorpe lighthouse and three light keeper’s cottages began in 1877 and the light became operational in 1879. Despite the lighthouse beaming across the Strait a six ship wrecks occurred around the island. The last was in 1982 and the best known was the sinking of the Pareora in 1919 with the loss of eleven lives. The lighthouse was automated in 1991 and the three light keeper’s cottages closed after 112 years of service. The Commonwealth returned the island to the SA government in 1996.
Stenhouse Bay began around the new bigger jetty and crushing plant in 1930. These new facilities allowed for much bigger mining operations at Inneston and Lake Marion and much larger ships could then be loaded with gypsum. Stenhouse Bay had a power house to power the crushing plant and engineering works. It had its own plaster factory. The small town soon had a general store and the school, around 200 residents and around 90 men were employed in the gypsum works. Salt was also loaded at Stenhouse Bay and shipped back to Adelaide. The Waratah Gypsum Company which owned and operated Stenhouse Bay sold the town to the South Australian government in 1969 and all production works ceased in 1972. The Waratah Gypsum Company was originally the Permasite Company established in 1913 at Inneston by William Innes and associates including Andrew Stenhouse. They operated the gypsum mines at Lake Marion, Lake Inneston and the production plants and jetty at Inneston for both salt and gypsum processing.
Inneston was established as a private town by William Innes in 1913 to accommodation the gypsum miners. It soon had a range of limestone buildings from manager’s houses to workers cottages, a bakery, a hall and school, a general store, a Post Office and stables for transportation. It also had the Bellco school chalk factory. Mr Bell from Melbourne established this factory in 1922 with William Innes was a partner in the business. He had government contracts to provide all school chalk SA and Western Australia but his chalk was sold around the nation. The factory in Inneston was closed by 1930 but the main factory was at Maribyrnong in Melbourne. Bellco also had a contract to supply chalk to the Australian Army in the 1930s and it had offices in Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide. It was used in many schools into the 1980s. Its ruins remain in Inneston. William Innes established the Permasite Company in 1913 when he took over the lease of Lake Inneston near his town. The company drained the lake and then blasted the gypsum out of it. Slab of gypsum were then partially crushed and then transported to Marion Bay. The stables in Inneston were needed for the horse railway to Marion Bay. By 1930 the gypsum on William Innes Lake Inneston leasehold was finished so his company closed down the town of Inneston which slowly died. Some buildings were transferred to Stenhouse Bay. In its heyday however, Inneston had a population of around 200 people. Despite the closure of Inneston in 1930 mining in the district expanded from 1930 as new Waratah Gypsum Company facilities opened in Stenhouse Bay. All mining ceased by 1972 but the company was in talks with the SA government about selling it to them by 1969. Around the edge of Lake Inneston are some of the earliest forms of life on earth- stromatolites about 500 million years old. They are only found at Shark Bay in Western Australia and here at Inneston and Lake Marion.
Inneston. Gypsum mining town 1913 to 1930. Now a ghost town in Innes National Park. The ruins of the general store. View from the Institute which was used as the school .
Inneston.
The southern tip of Yorke Peninsula is now a large National Park(Innes) surrounded by the ocean and many islands on three sides and Investigator Strait which separates Yorke Peninsula from Kangaroo Island. Some of the sites on southern Yorke Peninsula were named by Captain Matthew Flinders when he charted South Australia’s coastline in 1802. There were three main settlements in this region, all run as gypsum mining sites or ports handling gypsum exports, and all run by the same gypsum mining company. The three sites were linked by mining railways from the coast inland to the town of Inneston and to Lake Marion. The earliest settlement was Marion Bay with gypsum coming from Lake Marion, then the secondary mining centre was developed at Lake Inneston (1913-1930) and then the port facilities were moved to Stenhouse. Since Stenhouse Bay and mining closed in 1972 only the town of Marion Bay exists just outside of the National Park.
This small fishing and holiday town appears to have been named after the wreck of the steamer Marion. The steamer left Port Adelaide for Wallaroo on the 10th July 1862 but was ship wrecked near Cape Spencer on the 12th July. On that day the Captain of the Lubra, another steamer, saw smoke coming from a nearby bay. The life boats from the Marion had rescued the 50 passengers and crew and got them off the wreck to the bottom of the cliffs and then to a nearby sandy bay. Then they were transported to the Lubra. Shortly afterwards the Marion passengers boarded the steamer Lubra the stranded Marion broke up and disappeared on the rocks. The passengers were than taken back to Port Adelaide by the Lubra. But another boat was ship wrecked here also called the Marion in 1851 so it might have been named after that wreck. The Hundred of Warrenben was declared in 1877 and some farmers and settlers moved to the region. Some years later in the early 1880s William Innes discovered a form of limestone inland from the coast and several short term mining companies emerged to mine the gypsum. This limestone was treated to produce gypsum an essential ingredient of plaster which was used by the building industry and it was used as a fertiliser for agriculture. In 1889 a syndicate established the Australian Gypsum and Whiting Company and built their own small jetty at Marion Bay. In the early years the gypsum as transported in small boats to waiting ketches in the bay. The gypsum was transported on light rail tracks to the coast from Lake Marion. The mining company was taken over by A Hassell in 1898. The wooden railway tracks were eventually replaced with steel ones and steam engines used for transporting the gypsum from Lake Marion and later from Lake Inneston with a connecting railway from Marion Bay to Stenhouse Bay. In 1930 the port facilities were moved from Marion Bay to Stenhouse Bay and the town of Stenhouse Bay was established soon after. The Marion Bay School operated from 1919 to 1938. When closed it was moved in 1938 to Stenhouse Bay. Stenhouse Bay School opened in 1938. There it served as the Stenhouse Bay hall and school until its closure in 1974. Next to it was a weatherboard teacher’s residence which still stands. The only public buildings in Marion Bay in recent decades has been the general store and the hotel.
Just south of Marion Bay the Innes National Park was created in 1972 after the gypsum mining and production at Inneston ceased. It is now known as the Innes Dhilba Guuranda National Park. It contains the ghost town of Inneston, Lake Inneston, Lake Marion etc and spectacular coastline. A modern lighthouse at Cape Spencer (1970) replaced the lighthouse on Althorpe Island and another lighthouse is located at West Cape (1980). Beyond West Cape is Pondalowie Bay with its South, Middle and North islands. Althorpe Island was named by Captain Matthew Flinders in 1802. An inter colonial meeting of the colonies in 1873 agreed upon a number of necessary lighthouses to try and ensure safety of major shipping routes including Investigator Strait between Kangaroo Island and Yorke Peninsula. Construction of Althorpe lighthouse and three light keeper’s cottages began in 1877 and the light became operational in 1879. Despite the lighthouse beaming across the Strait a six ship wrecks occurred around the island. The last was in 1982 and the best known was the sinking of the Pareora in 1919 with the loss of eleven lives. The lighthouse was automated in 1991 and the three light keeper’s cottages closed after 112 years of service. The Commonwealth returned the island to the SA government in 1996.
Stenhouse Bay began around the new bigger jetty and crushing plant in 1930. These new facilities allowed for much bigger mining operations at Inneston and Lake Marion and much larger ships could then be loaded with gypsum. Stenhouse Bay had a power house to power the crushing plant and engineering works. It had its own plaster factory. The small town soon had a general store and the school, around 200 residents and around 90 men were employed in the gypsum works. Salt was also loaded at Stenhouse Bay and shipped back to Adelaide. The Waratah Gypsum Company which owned and operated Stenhouse Bay sold the town to the South Australian government in 1969 and all production works ceased in 1972. The Waratah Gypsum Company was originally the Permasite Company established in 1913 at Inneston by William Innes and associates including Andrew Stenhouse. They operated the gypsum mines at Lake Marion, Lake Inneston and the production plants and jetty at Inneston for both salt and gypsum processing.
Inneston was established as a private town by William Innes in 1913 to accommodation the gypsum miners. It soon had a range of limestone buildings from manager’s houses to workers cottages, a bakery, a hall and school, a general store, a Post Office and stables for transportation. It also had the Bellco school chalk factory. Mr Bell from Melbourne established this factory in 1922 with William Innes was a partner in the business. He had government contracts to provide all school chalk SA and Western Australia but his chalk was sold around the nation. The factory in Inneston was closed by 1930 but the main factory was at Maribyrnong in Melbourne. Bellco also had a contract to supply chalk to the Australian Army in the 1930s and it had offices in Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide. It was used in many schools into the 1980s. Its ruins remain in Inneston. William Innes established the Permasite Company in 1913 when he took over the lease of Lake Inneston near his town. The company drained the lake and then blasted the gypsum out of it. Slab of gypsum were then partially crushed and then transported to Marion Bay. The stables in Inneston were needed for the horse railway to Marion Bay. By 1930 the gypsum on William Innes Lake Inneston leasehold was finished so his company closed down the town of Inneston which slowly died. Some buildings were transferred to Stenhouse Bay. In its heyday however, Inneston had a population of around 200 people. Despite the closure of Inneston in 1930 mining in the district expanded from 1930 as new Waratah Gypsum Company facilities opened in Stenhouse Bay. All mining ceased by 1972 but the company was in talks with the SA government about selling it to them by 1969. Around the edge of Lake Inneston are some of the earliest forms of life on earth- stromatolites about 500 million years old. They are only found at Shark Bay in Western Australia and here at Inneston and Lake Marion.