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William Henry Linthorne (1846 – 1920) was an early pioneer of the Greenough/Dongara and Mingenew districts. He was a builder, hotelier and businessman who built many of the landmark buildings in Mingenew including the Anglican Church, the first State School (now the Museum) and the Mingenew Post and Telegraph Office.
In 1892 he applied for a Wayside Inn licence for the Midland Hotel (now the Commercial Hotel) and shifted to Mingenew from Dongara to live in the premises. In 1902 he was elected as the first Secretary of the Upper Irwin Road Board and served in this role until 1919.
W.H. Linthorne built this stately colonial residence Linthorne Manor (Kia Ora) in 1893 for his wife Mary Ann (King) and their 14 children. The home’s outstanding features included bull-nosed verandahs, bricks made in Guildford, stamped metal ceilings made by a German craftsman, painted glass panels above the doors and ornate timber surrounds to the fireplaces. The outside buildings comprised of the laundry, yardman’s quarters and stables.
In 1926 the property was sold to W.S. Oliver and his wife Bessie. In 1961 it became the property of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Geraldton and was then used as the St Joseph’s Presbytery and Catholic Centre for many years.
In 2007 Linthorne Manor returned to private hands and the current owners have embarked on extensive restoration work which will ensure that it remains an iconic historical building for years to come.
Please respect the privacy of residents.

The first school building was a galvanised iron structure attached to the eastern side of the tin church in Irwin St. It had previously been used as a school room at the Strawberry siding and shifted to Mingenew in 1931. It opened in 1932 as St Joseph’s Convent School, staffed by three Sisters from the Dominican teaching order. They endured hard living conditions, working inside this school wearing their long flowing heavy twill habits and tight-fitting headwear during the long summers without any form of cooling. Outside of school hours the Sisters taught music to many local children.
The sisters lived in a mud brick house on the corner of Victoria and Irwin St. until a substantial brick house was built for them in 1954 on the east side of the church.
By 1948 a new one room school was built in William St. and with increasing numbers two additional classrooms were added in 1954 and 1963. By this time there were 86 pupils at the school. From 1979 until the school closed in 1991 it was staffed by lay teachers. The building is now occupied as a private residence.

The first evidence of law in the district was at Strawberry where P.C. Joseph Watson was stationed from 1863. His territory covered a vast area extending into the Murchison. In 1893 a resident Police Constable was appointed to the private town of Mingenew. This was the gold boom era when police were on duty 24 hours a day and were responsible for a multitude of tasks over and above their policing duties including first aid, local debtors, collecting the annual agricultural statistics and collecting license fees for cats and dogs.
In 1897 a new police station and quarters were built of local stone at a cost of 500 pounds. Its solid construction, high ceilings and thick walls made it the coolest residence in town. This building has survived thanks to the efforts of Mingenew Historical Society members who campaigned strongly for its retention when it was threatened with demolition in the 1970’s. It is now used as a residence.
The station’s two-celled stone lockup was built in 1898, which meant prisoners no longer needed to be chained to a tree while waiting for the arrival of the visiting magistrate. Despite being in poor condition, open to public view and a security risk, this lockup continued to be used to house prisoners until 1980 when it was demolished.
In 1964 a new building, housing the courthouse and police station facility, was opened. The court house facility remained in operation until 2015.
Please respect the privacy of residents.

The business of blacksmithing was extremely important both for shoeing horses and building and repairing coaches, sulkies, drays, and wagons. The trade was carried on from the earliest times and by circa 1894-1895 John O’Connor, A.E. Kenworthy and Samuel Henry Hope were operating in Mingenew.
Wagons built at the Hope family business were well known and distributed throughout the pastoral areas-even to the Kimberley. Their expertise as wheelwrights were such that teamsters brought plant back to Mingenew for repairs annually. The Hope’s anvil, tyreing machine and shrinking plate are displayed at the museum. Their business also included coffin making and they conducted undertaking duties for three generations, with Charles and Gordon operating as Hope Bros. from 1909 until shortly after the second world war.
The blacksmith shop [near the Mingenew Spring] included a foundry where some of the early ‘strippers’ were made preceding the modern harvesters. One of the first motor cars to herald the age of motorised transport, was owned in 1913 by the Darlot Bros. of Urella; gradually the trade of blacksmiths was displaced by modernised Garages.
The Mingenew Shire Works Depot is now located on this site.

From the earliest settlement in the 1850’s the Mingenew Spring was the main watering point for people and cattle in the area. In 1867 100 acres of land around the spring was leased by Samuel Pole Phillips. A shepherd’s hut built of stone and pug with a thatched roof was built south of the spring.
In 1891 his son Samuel James Phillips surveyed this land into 156 town blocks which became the private town of Mingenew Spring. Market gardens were established on land around the spring to supply produce for the local market and the gold diggers on the Murchison gold fields. A Chinaman named John had one of the first fruit and vegetable shops on the corner of William Street and Railway Parade. This natural freshwater spring was also a popular swimming spot for locals.
In 1887 the town’s people were drawing from the spring “an ample and pure supply of water all the year round.” By 1929 water for the town site was being supplied mostly from Erregulla Spring, collected rainwater and some spring water.
In 1979 an earthquake shook the town and it is speculated that this event affected the water flow of the spring. In 1982 a bore was drilled west of the reserve, which also lowered the water table to its current level.
In 1961 a caravan park, under the management of the Shire, was established on a portion of this land while the remainder was retained as a reserve. The caravan park is now privately owned.

From the 1850s to the beginning of the 1900s, large drafts of Kimberley and Gascoyne pastoral cattle were droved south annually from such places as Anna Plains station north of Port Hedland to Mingenew. Drafts of up to 3000 head travelled in mobs of approximately 800 head which enabled the draw-down of water to be managed.
They travelled on well-trodden stock routes established around the available water in springs, soaks, wells and permanent pools. These were established every 10-15 miles, a recognised day’s journey for travelling stock.
Cattle from the northern area of the State passed through the government Dip at Wallal station to ensure freedom from tick, before being walked to Mingenew. This journey took up to 9 months and sheep and cattle were often droved down a day apart. Land was reserved around each watering point for public use. Extensive land was also set aside around Mingenew town site to hold sheep and cattle while waiting for train transport to market. Large wooden stock yards (near the railway station) were established as holding pens. The reserve at Depot Hill, with its fresh springs in the Irwin River, was used for the purpose of holding stock before they continued their journey south or while waiting for sale in Mingenew.
The stock routes were also used by wagons and coaches. Improvements to the routes were made over time to accommodate motorised traffic and they now form part of our road systems.

On the 24th November 1894 the railway line from Mingenew to Midland was completed. This important milestone in the development of this part of the State was marked with its opening by the Commissioner of Railways Mr H.W. Venn and Engineer in Chief Mr C.Y. O’Connor.
In 1894 Mr F.W.G Liebe completed the construction of the Railway Station buildings. They consisted of a stone station master’s residence and office, linked to the two passenger waiting rooms, by a breezeway. Brick refreshment rooms and facilities were added in 1949. These rooms along with the original waiting rooms make up the building today after the station master’s residence and office were demolished in 1973.
The opening of the railway transformed the transportation of all goods and people to and from the district. Mingenew developed into a major locomotive depot and crew changeover stop for the Midland line. Facilities including a goods shed, loading ramp, stockyards, a 3-tonne crane, coal storage area, water tank and a twelve-hut barracks were built over the years. Collie coal was used for the steam trains while water was supplied from the Erregulla Spring Reserve.
Manual communication methods from this era can be seen at the Mingenew Museum. They include the ‘distance signal’, complete with green and orange glass, and the kerosene lamp used for illumination at night. Diesel engines replaced steam in 1958 and passenger train services ceased in 1975.
Bulk grain is now the only freight carried on this line.

In 1906 the Upper Irwin Road Board account was transferred from the West Australian Bank at Dongara to a newly formed branch of the National Bank in Mingenew. By 1908 a weatherboard and iron building with residence attached, was erected in Railway Parade (Midlands Road). A bank teller at one time was known to stand in a tub of water behind the counter to keep cool. In the early days the ledger desk was set 10 inches above the floor level to observe the customers and assist in case of any holdups. Pistols were issued to most senior staff. A brick frontage to the bank, extending back to the strong room, was added in 1935 and the tin roof replaced with tiles 1985. 1965 a new bank manager’s residence was erected in Phillip street and the original residence demolished. The bank formally closed September 2018 after service had reduced to 2 days per week in recent years.

Around 1870 the first official store, referred to as ‘The Little Wonder’ was built by Dongara merchant and commercial agent Samuel Fortescue Moore, on the site of the present IGA, Lot 72, 52 Midlands Rd.
It was the second building erected in the Mingenew town site. The store sold a wide variety of goods including groceries, drapery, clothing, hardware, and alcohol. He was an agent for insurance, rent collection, income tax returns, and machinery.
He stocked gold diggers requisites to cater for men on their way to the Murchison goldfields and also owned a store at Yandanooka. S.F. Moore was a highly esteemed colonist, prominent pastoralist, and businessman.
He represented the Irwin district as a parliamentarian for many years and was well respected throughout the state.
From 1910 – 1925 Mr P.T. Bridge managed the store for Mr Moore. He then purchased the business and ran it from 1925 – 1942 on his own behalf.
Since that time subsequent owners/leasees have included W.H.G. Howard, Webster and Gledhill and MingenewTrading Company.

In 1928 owner/manager E.A. Field opened his new store on the site of the former Pearse and Herbert store. Constructed of cement bricks, at a cost of 2000 pounds, it covered 420sqm and featured four large street front display windows, glass skylights for light and ventilation, and was illuminated at night by means of an electric plant on the premises.
An amazing variety of goods, from clothing, groceries, homewares, and hardware, to gramophones and cameras were on sale. Agricultural products including fuel, oil, chaff, and other fodders were stored in a warehouse attached to the rear of the building. Since 1930, when Mr. Field sold his business, there have been various operators including Caldow’s (1930-1947), Craig and Paddon and Webster and Gledhill. The building was demolished in 1969 to make way for Cecil Newton Park.

In 1928 owner/manager E.A. Field opened his new store on the site of the former Pearse and Herbert store. Constructed of cement bricks, at a cost of 2000 pounds, it covered 420sqm and featured four large street front display windows, glass skylights for light and ventilation, and was illuminated at night by means of an electric plant on the premises.
An amazing variety of goods, from clothing, groceries, homewares, and hardware, to gramophones and cameras were on sale. Agricultural products including fuel, oil, chaff, and other fodders were stored in a warehouse attached to the rear of the building. Since 1930, when Mr. Field sold his business, there have been various operators including Caldow’s (1930-1947), Craig and Paddon and Webster and Gledhill. The building was demolished in 1969 to make way for Cecil Newton Park.

Tearooms were immensely popular in town, selling homemade ginger beer and ice-cream, which was churned by volunteers and sold for a penny a lick (cone).
Blue’s Cafe took its name from Colin Campbell, nick-named Blue. He and his wife Esme managed this establishment from 1959-1965.
Mrs Alice Pascoe, Nanna Dunn, Mr Sweetapple and Lawley McCagh, at different stages also serviced the town with their specialty tearoom provisions.
The Irwin Index, a local newspaper of the day, carries advertisements for Oliver’s Tea Rooms and Cosy Corner Tea Rooms (run by Mrs Kilmurray) in 1926.
A decade later, the same paper advertises Mrs E.G. Gilders ran a tearoom opposite the railway station, and Mrs S. Fickling had the Royal Tea Rooms.
The Flats were built in 1928 and have had many and varied uses throughout the decades, including a saddlery, dressmaker, bicycle shop and the Rural and Industry Bank agency.
Hannah Clapp ran a hair salon from here in the 1950s and locals also worked here when it was a bakehouse, managed by Laurie Broad. At times, the building was rented out as residences.
Recently, The Flats have been part private residence and part business, including a sewing service, Bowen therapist and a second-hand shop.

H.E. Kenny operated the Mingenew Hotel from 1892-1909 on the corner of Railway Parade and Bride Street, (this site) under the patronage of Sir John and Lady Forrest. His single storey wood and iron hotel included eight bedrooms, verandahs, and an office.
R.J. Raynor purchased the property in 1909 and added the attractive two storey stone front to the existing premises. This comprised of three parlours, a storeroom, bathroom, and office on the ground floor, and five bedrooms and a bathroom on the first floor. The outbuildings consisted of stables, feed and harness rooms.
By 1920 the license had been withdrawn. The building was then used for residential boarding and as an office by a variety of businesses including the Bush Nursing Association, the Irwin Index, a branch of the Bank of N.S.W. and Elder Smith and Co. Ltd. stock agents, until it was demolished in 1970.
Elders Rural Services have occupied this modern office and storage facility since 1995.

The Mingenew Yandanooka Branch was formed on 6th February 1929 with Mrs Bridge as President and Mrs Howard as Hon. Secretary. These ladies held the branch together with an iron hand for many years and achieved a great deal in a time of low wages and hard work caused by the depression.
Their first aim was to obtain the services of a district nurse. Sister Larson was appointed in 1930 with her annual wage being funded by the C.W.A. Their fund raising efforts included organising weekly dances, card evenings, catering for sales, polo matches and races.
In 1930 the C.W.A commenced organising plans for the building of a hospital. However in 1934 they reluctantly handed over this project to the District Hospital Association which completed the building in 1936. In 1936 the C.W.A Restrooms were built on this site. They served a very useful purpose for meetings, members’ convenience and accommodation, especially for mothers and their children from outlying areas.
The C.W.A contributed greatly to the war effort from 1941 – 1943 not only on the local front but also by making up food parcels to be sent to the troops overseas. They advocated strongly for native rights and improvements at the ‘Little Well’ Reserve. They established a special distress fund to aid people with food, clothing and housing during the depression.
The Yandanooka members formed their own branch in 1946.
In 1979 the restroom was demolished after being severely damaged by cyclone Hazel.