Milparinka is a gold mining ghost town a short distance off the Silver City Highway in northwestern New South Wales, about 300km north from Broken Hill and 40km south from Tibooburra. Gold was discovered in 1880 and Milparinka was designated at the administrative centre for the gold fields. In Milparinka, apart from ruins, there are two houses, the Albert Hotel, a modern caravan park and the heritage precinct, a complex of museum buildings located around the 1883 Police Barracks and cell block, the 1896 Courthouse and the 1901 Post Office. Admission to the heritage precinct is $10 for adults with free admission for children. The heritage precinct and the caravan park are staffed by volunteers and managed by a local community organisation, the Milparinka Heritage and Tourism Association, which has authorised the placement of this geocache. This is fourth geocache that I installed during a two-week stint as the volunteer staffing the heritage precinct but the chair of the Milparinka Heritage and Tourism Association (a local grazier) will be responsible for ongoing maintenance.
This cache is at the cemetery for Milparinka. During the four decades from 1880 to 1920, at least 300 people died including 50 infants and young children who in large measure died in epidemics of diphtheria or typhoid. The earliest tombstone records the death of George Streiff who died in 1883 aged 29 years and the most recent Emily Maureen Davie who died in 2016 aged 87 years. Most graves no longer have a headstone and a few are evident only because of a slight mound or the remains of a wooden border. Among the graves are Jeremiah and Ellen Baker; Jeremiah is said to have erected the initial corner post at Cameron Corner and at one stage was the publican at the Albert Hotel and also contracted to carry the mail to Milparinka. The large and new monument honours Frederick and George Blore; George Blore built the Albert Hotel and for a short time was the publican of the Royal Hotel. Henry Bonnett was also the publican of the Albert Hotel at one stage while Fred Connors was the first publican of the Royal Standard Hotel, which stood opposite the Albert Hotel, from 1881 to 1885. Thomas Wakefield Chambers published the newspaper, The Sturt Recorder, Tibooburra and Mt Browne Advertiser until 1900. His newspaper championed the Milparinka-Tibooburra district, heaped abuse on politicians who were indifferent to the needs of country people and railed against the then fledgling Labor Party. Please do not interfere with the historical gravesites.
The cemetery is a half-hour walk from the township (or a five-minute drive) along the appropriately named Cemetery Road. Cemetery Road is immediately adjacent to the bush airstrip that services the Milparinka district. The bush airstrip is rarely used - one aircraft landed during the fortnight I was in Milparinka, but visitors are requested not to drive on the main runway and will also need to be alert when driving across the east-west runway.
The cache is not near any of the graves or memorials, but can be reached from within the cemetery fence. Please wear sturdy shoes and sock and leg protection as snakes are a risk and in dry conditions, prickles and thorns can be a nuisance.
So come, visit Milparinka, learn a little of the history, maybe stay the night in the caravan park or hotel, and enjoy a little geocaching while you are here.