A group of school children with a young woman who could be their teacher, photographed at Stenhouse Bay, South Australia; names not known.

The gypsum industry of southern Yorke Peninsula was begun in 1913 at Inneston, or Cape Spencer as it was originally called. It was conducted by the Permasite Manufacturing Company, later the Waratah Gypsum Company. The gypsum was shipped through Stenhouse Bay, being transported there on a wooden rail tramway. Later the mining at Inneston was transferred to nearby Marion Lake and subsequently the mining operations were amalgamated at Stenhouse Bay. The town had 37 houses, a community hall, school, post office, a licensed general store, and administration buildings.

When operations were shifted from Marion Bay to Stenhouse Bay many of the buildings were transferred, including the school. This was small and also provided accommodation for the teacher. The children were part of a community of 35 families established by the Waratah Gypsum Company to administer the gypsum workings at Stenhouse Bay.

The Waratah Gypsum Company closed its works at Stenhouse Bay in 1972 and the town was sold to the South Australian Government which demolished it except for the few houses required for the rangers who administer Innes National Park.

Gypsum in South Australia S.A. Department of Mines and Geological Survey Adelaide, S. Aust.: Dept. of Mines, [1966]

Nelson, Keith Kitchener The history of Marion Bay, Inneston and Stenhouse Bay, 1922-1939 [Warooka, S. Aust.: Warooka District Council], c1994