No. 1596 - Mathinna - Salvation Army Hall (1897-1900)

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The settlement of Mathinna in the upper reaches of the South Esk River Valley is now a shadow of the thriving boom town which existed in the late 19th century. The discovery of gold accelerated the growth of the settlement after the 1870s and the establishment of the Golden Gate mine briefly turned Mathinna into the third largest town in Tasmania. Today less than 150 people live in the township.

Soon after the arrival of the miners, several religious denominations established places of worship in quick succession. These include an Anglican church (1896); a Methodist church (1896); a Catholic church (1897) and a Salvation Army Hall (1897).

In March 1897 the Hobart Mercury reported:

“The Salvation Army folk have completed the barracks, which will be opened by Major Gover, the commander of the force in Tasmania. Other leading lights will also assemble. A very suitable and comfortable structure has been erected….”.

The Hall, or Barracks, was put to regular use over a period of three years. The last reported service in the hall was a a harvest festival held in March 1900. In the following year Launceston’s Daily Telegraph reported that the building had been sold to the Presbyterians.

“The Presbyterians have at last decided to have a church here, instead of using the public hall, and have purchased the building erected by the Salvation Army, which should prove suitable…”.

Under Presbyterian ownership the hall had a porch and a belfry added. A photograph of the original hall, or one of after its was transformed into a church, has yet to be found. The photograph used in this article is of an unidentified Salvation Army hall in Tasmania and is dated to the late 1890s.

An unidentified Salvation Army Hall in Tasmania dated to the late 1890s. Source: The Salvation Army Museum

A view of Mathinna taken around the turn of the 20th Century. Source: Libraries Tasmania


Sources:

Mercury, Friday 4 March 1898, page 4
Mercury, Saturday 13 March 1897, page 2
Daily Telegraph, Wednesday 26 October 1898, page 8
Mercury, Saturday 1 July 1899, page 3
Examiner, Monday 19 March 1900, page 3
Daily Telegraph, Wednesday 9 May 1900, page 8
Daily Telegraph, Wednesday 16 January 1901, page 8










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