The Minlaton Hotel was built in 1877 for a Mr McInnerney, and opened in August with a dinner for 100 guests. At this time the hotel was called the Gum Flat Commercial Hotel, being renamed Minlaton Hotel in March 1882. It stands on a prominent corner on Main and Fourth Streets. In February 1888 the first meeting of the District Council of Minlaton was held at the hotel.

The hotel was later sold to the Howard family and leased to Alec Ford: he kept 'one of the best houses on Yorke Peninsula. Cleanliness and comfort now rule,' (quoted in Cook, p. 16). In 1901 management was taken over by Ford's brother John, who eventually bought the premises.

The second storey was added in the 1920s, and currently has rendered walls and a corrugated iron roof. The motel section was added to the hotel in 1964.

It is the only hotel in Minlaton.

Cook, Diana The Striding years: a history of the Minlaton District Council area [Minlaton, S. Aust.?: Minlaton District Council?], 1980

Hoad, J. L Hotels and publicans in South Australia 1836 - March 1993 [McLaren Vale, S. Aust.: C.R. Hoad], 1999

Heritage of the Yorke Peninsula prepared by Weidenhofer Architects [Adelaide]: Dept. for Environment, Heritage and Aboriginal Affairs, 1998 Part 1: District Council of Yorke Peninsula