MINNIPA Minnipa is the next town encounted when heading west from Port Augusta heading to Ceduna. Minnipa is another by-pass town that will determine a conscious turn right by the traveler. Minnipa serves the local grain growing community. The area around the town was first settled in 1878 but it wasn't until the arrival of the railway line in 1913 that any kind of township developed. When the railway was opened to Minnipa on 5 May 1913, the town consisted of two tents. Development of the surrounding districts followed the railway, and accelerated after the opening of the water pipeline from the Tod River Scheme in 1925. The town was proclaimed in 1915 and subsequently it became a typical Wheatbelt town servicing the surrounding area and providing the necessary grain handling and rail facilities to allow farmers fast access to Thevenard and Port Lincoln. Within the town are a number of grain silos that serve to store the local wheat crop. The town has a rich rural life, boasting several churches, a general store, caravan park, pub, fodder store, vet clinic and other industry based companies. The town is well placed, within an hour or two's drive from the west coast of Eyre Peninsula but still close enough for a day trip to the. It is located in the centre of a vast low-rainfall wheat belt, and the surrounding countryside is gently undulating but broken by numerous wind-shaped granite outcrops. Fifteen km north of Minippa township is the standout Pildappa Rock whose incredible flowing forms rival the singular form of the better known Wave Rock in Western Australia. (Not visited). The Minnipa War Memorial is on the eastern end of the township and is at the sports ground gates. The Pildappa Rock is cause to give Minnipa a consideration and visit.