A brief history of the Tintinara district.

Tintinara was first settled in the 1860’s. Tintinara and its surrounding districts are based around the agricultural production of sheep, beef and cropping. The area is also well known centre for bee keeping.

Police Inspector Tolmer pioneered a track from Adelaide to the Mt Alaxander goldfields in Vicitoria and by 1852 Government wells and direction boards were erected along this route. The wells at the Homestead and Reedy Wells were regular watering points for Tolmer’s Escort team.

The first settlers to the area were T.W. & J.H. Boothby, sons of the Judge of the Surpreme Court of SA, Benjamin Boothby. They purchased a lease of 165 sq. miles and formed a station known as “Tintinara” – a name derived from their Aboriginal workman, Tin Tin a member of the Coorong Tribe. The original settlement is at the Tintinara Homestead, 7 km west of the township.

The Boothby brothers were followed by pioneer William Harding and George Burnn, who, in 1865, built the magnificent 16-stand shearing shed. Features of the shed are the 80 cm thick limestone walls and the supporting oregon timbers, almost 11 m long, which were carted from Kingston by bullock drays.

Both the Tintinara Homestead and the shearing shed are classified by the National Trust.