Milparinka (including Albert and Mt Poole)
A tiny outback settlement, now a virtual ghost town
Milparinka is located 296 km north of Broken Hill, 39 km south of Tibooburra and 1465 km from Sydney. It was probably named after the local Aboriginal word meaning 'water may be found here'. Considerable efforts have been made in recent years to preserve the town's heritage and improve its facilities and services for visitors. A sign of this renewed effort is the Once a Jolly Swagman Festival, inaugurated at Easter in the year 2003. There are also plans to develop bush tucker and native wild flower plantings in order to generate a sustainable industry for the community.

The first European through the area was Charles Sturt in 1845 and the town came into existence in the 1880s when there was a brief, and rather unsuccessful, goldrush nearby. 16 km west of the tiny settlement are some grim reminders of Charles Sturt's 1845 expedition to Central Australia in which, once again, he searched unsuccessfully for an inland sea. Adjacent Mount Poole homestead is a permanent waterhole on Preservation Creek known as Depot Glen where Sturt and his party were forced to camp for six months waiting for heavy rains to replenish their steadily diminishing water supply in what turned out to be one of the worst droughts ever recorded. Just to the north is the lonely grave of James Poole, Sturt's second-in-command, who died of scurvy a few miles from the Depot while being carried home. The party buried him under a grevillea tree, carving his initials and the year 1845 into the tree, which still stands. There is also a memorial headstone. The other graves in the area are of local station owners and employees.

On the top of Mount Poole there is a stone cairn which Sturt had his party build to 'give the men occupation'. Sturt wrote in his diary that when constructing the cairn 'I little thought when I was engaged in that work, that I was erecting Mr Poole's monument, but so it was, that rude structure looks over his lonely grave, and will stand for ages as a record of all we suffered in the dreary region to which we were so long confined.'

Remarkably when the drought broke Sturt pushed further north only to be driven back by the waterless wastelands of the Simpson Desert.

Milparinka became the first permanent settlement on the Albert Goldfields in the early 1880s, after gold was discovered at Mt Browne. It emerged on this sandstone hill, overlooking a waterhole on the Evelyn Creek. At that time Milparinka was a shanty town of several hundred people living in rough huts and tents. However, local sandstone was available for building purposes and more substantial buildings soon emerged. Consequently, it soon had its own newspaper, police office, chemist shop, two butchers, a courthouse (1886), a school (1883), a hospital (1889) and four hotels. The town's one remaining hotel, and the only one between Broken Hill and Tibooburra, is the Albert, first licensed in 1882. The old courthouse, police barracks and bank are nearby. The old post office is located in Loftus St.

Two other towns, Albert - which once had a population of 900 - and Mt Browne, existed briefly but only a few ruins remain today. A cemetery can also be found some distance from the Mt Browne diggings. The lack of water made gold prospecting extraordinarily difficult. Dry blowing was used and some miners even carted their gold bearing dirt to Milparinka where they washed it in the town's waterhole. The diggings were largely abandoned by 1893.

In summertime it is not uncommon for temperatures to reach 50°C, thus the annual gymkhana is held in July.

 

Things to see:  

Walking Trail
A brochure is available from the courthouse (see next entry) and the hotel. It will lead you on a walk around the town's heritage sites, taking in the school, the Baker's House, an historic underground water tank and the cemetery, among others. The information centre, due to open late in 2004 at the police barracks (see below), will become the obvious place to pick up the walking brochure but it is expected a human guide will also be available to conduct a guided tour.

 

Milparinka Courthouse Local History Centre
The old courthouse, built of local sandstone in 1886, ceased its judicial functions in 1921 and later served as a post office and as a government office. It is now a local history centre with disabled facilities and historic items on display (gold coin donation for entry).

 

Police Barracks
Adjacent the courthouse are the old police barracks, which confined those about to face charges. It contained two square cells of solid sandstone and heavy wooden doors. The complex is to be redeveloped as a tourist attraction, tourist information centre and souvenir shop. The information centre is due to open late in the year 2004 and it will become the obvious place to pick up the walking brochure but it is expected a human guide will also be available to conduct a guided tour.

 

Harry Blore Memorial Park
Over the road is a park featuring displays of indigenous flora and a gazebo featuring interpretive material. A memorial to those who died in the two world wars is under construction.

 

Pastoral History Shed
About 50 metres south of the hotel (between the hotel and the courthouse), is a shed which features interpretive material relating to the pastoral industry. Nearby are public toilets in a pleasant bush setting.

 

The Baker House
Located just past the courthouse and beyond the pub are the remnants of the house the Baker family lived in. This is a fascinating insight into the lifestyle and origins of some of Milparinka's original inhabitants. Jeremiah and Ellen had previously worked on the goldfields at Araluen in New South Wales and obviously didn't mind the hardship. Today only a shell remains.

 

Exploring the Area
The local source of all knowledge is the publican of the Albert Hotel and before visiting the sites of Sturt's expedition it is wise to get directions from him. Poole's grave and the stone cairn are both on private property and are open to the public courtesy of the owners of Mt Poole Station, though the homestead and buildings are not open for inspection.

Remember, the local roads are gravel and can be hazardous or impassable after wet weather. Phone the Roads and Traffic Authority for an up-to-date report on their condition.

 

 

 

 

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Milparinka