The Nauo were the indigenous people of the area of Minnipa prior to English colonisation and the area around the town was first settled by Europeans in 1878. At the arrival of the railway line 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. By 1960, Minnipa was the major railway centre between Cummins and Thevenard. Before the construction of the Tod River scheme and its network of pipelines, tanks were constructed at many locations to catch the runoff from the granite outcrops which are a feature of the landscape. The earliest of these were constructed at Minnipa Hill in 1914 by the South Australian Railways. These historic tanks were reconditioned in the 1990s and fitted with new roofs to provide a standby water supply for Minnipa. 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. Adjacent to the silos is a disused railway siding which used to freight the grain crop to Port Lincoln, which is now done by road transport for export around the world. The town's rural life includes several churches, a general store, caravan park, pub, fodder store, vet clinic and other industry based companies. Its sporting tradition includes swimming, Australian Rules football, tennis, netball and table tennis. The town is close both to the west coast of Eyre Peninsula, and to the Gawler Ranges. It is located in the centre of a vast low-rainfall wheat belt and the surrounding countryside includes numerous wind-shaped granite outcrops. The 'wave' shapes and varied colours of the granite outcrops or bornhardts in the area were formed by moisture-induced decomposition of the sub-surface granite when the ground level was much higher. Gradual erosion of the surface soil has left the granite outcrops exposed. Popular tourist destinations These granite outcrops were noted by Edward John Eyre, and a few years later the Government sponsored an expedition to map and record the native names of the outcrops, they were Tcharkulda, Yarwondutta, Minnipa, Chilpuddie and Pildappa. 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.
Climate
Minnipa has a semi-arid climate with hot and dry summers and only moderately wet winters. Due to a change of weather station location and a closure of the old Minnipa station in 2002, this article uses the 1996-2017 averages from the new station, while records cover both, considering there was only between those.
Heritage listings
Minnipa has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
