The first allotments of Mintaro were sold in late 1949, and by December 1950, the Magpie and Stump Hotel was completed at the entrance to the village. It mainly operated to service the needs of the itinerant bullock and mule drivers who rested whilst making their way from Burra to Port Wakefield. A little south of the hotel are the bullock stables and huge rings are still visible where the bullocks were tied up at night.
Internally, the property consists of a front bar, two dining areas, a kitchen and bed and breakfast accommodation. Externally, at the rear of the property, the original stables, stockyard and coach house have been converted to form private storage areas. At the front of the hotel, the triangular design encloses the once celebrated 1936 Centenary Garden project. Between the garden and the hotel was a roadway, now a part of the delightful lawned beer garden.
The building is constructed with stone, slate and brick and has a corrugated iron roof. Today the Magpie and Stump remains the physical and social focal point of the village.[1]
There were not that many hotels in South Australia when the Magpie and Stump opened its doors in 1850. The decision to do so when the town was so small was principally to provide a service to the bullock and mule drivers. ‘Sometimes as many as 70 muleteers and their teams stayed overnight, with their showy dresses and lassos and knives often used in disputes. They did not endear themselves to the adults of Mintaro, though small boys watched with intense interest.’[2]
It is not surprising then to learn that by the 1860s, due to increased concern for their welfare, a village petition raised awareness for the building of a police station and the procurement of a police trooper!
The adjacent shop with its baker’s oven dating from the late 1850s is now incorporated into the hotel. The old shop, in the pub, had a room devoted to the Mintaro Coursing Club which started in 1884. The last live hare was used as a lure as recently as 1986. Coursing then continued in the area until 1997 using a drag lure.
Notes
- State Heritage Branch Register Report prepared by Kate McDougall, 7 Sep 1982.
- Government of South Australia, Department of Environment and Water, Mintaro State Heritage Area (Fact sheet) [PDF], https://cdn.environment.sa.gov.au/environment/docs/her-fact-mintarosha-factsheet.pdf, accessed 13/10/2024.