Our History

Jindera was gazetted in 1869 with 126 acres set aside for the village. The first Post Office opened a year later and Jindera soon grew into a prosperous town that at one stage featured a hospital, 2 schools, 4 hotels, parks and sporting facilities. There was even a racetrack opposite the location of the original public school. 

Jindera also had a Town Common where most of the village people had a cow for the domestic milk supply. When 56 German settlers arrived in the 1860s from South Australia, they camped at the Four Mile Creek to access a good supply of running water. A Pioneer Cairn has been erected on the site of that original camp. Most of the settlers came to Australia to escape religious persecution and to worship freely according to their faith.

By the end of the 1880s, the town had a Church of England, a Lutheran church and even a Lutheran school that taught exclusively in German.

The Jindera Government “Tank” was made in 1889 and gazetted as a Public Watering Place in 1890. It was made with pick and shovel, horse and dray. Its capacity is about half a million litres, and it has never run dry.

Over the years Jindera has hosted many interesting visitors including the German Consul in the early 1900s. In 1970 Governor General Sir Paul Hasluck visited, and children from St John’s School and the Jindera Public School assembled at the museum to greet him. Sir Paul was so impressed with the museum that he returned there to record his Australia Day speech in 1972.