Mingela
Mingela, with an estimated population of 20, is located 48 kilometres east from Charters Towers along the Flinders Highway. Once you cross the railway line you drive into the remnants of what was once a busy little town. Call into the Mingela Hotel to view the great historic photographs and chat with the locals.
The site of Mingela was once known as Cunningham's Waterholes. These billabongs made a practical place for settlers and travellers to camp overnight. Edward Cunningham was the first white man to pass through here in 1861 after Kennedy.
It was the ideal location for a railway junction following the Ravenswood gold rush of 1869 and the Charters Towers rush of 1872. The township of Cunningham was surveyed in 1881 and its name soon changed to Ravenswood Junction in 1884. When the railway line was closed in 1930, the name changed again to Mingela from the original Aboriginal place name of "Ming-illa", meaning big waterhole.
Bird life is prevalent during the wet season at the remaining waterholes near the Highway.