Old Andado Homestead - NT

Old Andado homestead. Stop and explore for a day visit or setup camp in the nearby camping area (see separate listing for details).

Prior to the construction of this homestead on this site, the first station workers here lived in temporary shelters and mud brick huts but nothing remains of those. The Old Andado Homestead was built in the mid 1920's by the McDill Brothers, Robert and George.

They erected the original two room section as an addition to the earlier mud brick living quarters on the occasion of George's wedding.

The iron and other materials used in the house were carted to Andado on a camel team from Oodnadatta by the then carriers Bagot and Marsh. The materials were dismantled from the house of Mrs McDill, Robert and Georges' mother.

Andado changed hands a number of times and in 1955 Mr H Overton, a part owner of Clifton Hills station formed a partnership with Mac Clarke, forming the Andado Pastoral Company.

In 1958, the first of several new residences built 16kms west of Old Andado were completed forming the new and now Andado Station.

Members of the Clarke family remained in the old homestead and in 1969; the Clarke family acquired the station outright, securing Freehold Lease no 778. Molly and Mac had 3 sons and they restored the old homestead in the early 1970s and established a tourism business there to show the hardships of life in the pioneering days.

A series of tragedies in the late 1970s, including the death of Mac in a plane crash and a complete de-stock of the property made the station worthless after their cattle were found to have tuberculosis. However, Molly wanted to reclaim the old homestead and the tourism business so she eventually secured a lease over a small portion of the property and was able to re-establish it as a working cattle station albeit small. Molly continued to run "Old Andado" until it changed hands in the 1980s. In those days, she worked tirelessly with the people of the region. She was a remarkable pioneer of the area and her influence and work is highly respected in the region. She did a lot of work with the bush children, the flying doctors, the CWA and put a lot of money into other charities as well. Everything she made from the tourism venture went to charity. She started the Pioneer Women's Hall of Fame in Alice Springs and she ended up building the track to Alice Springs (via Allambie Station) to save miles to get her shopping. The only alternative route at the time was to go via Finke and then back up the Ghan Road. She blazed the track for her own use by towing a railway sleeper. It started getting used and then the Works Dept made a proper road out of it using the grader in 1991. This road is the Binns Track.

Molly lived in the homestead exactly as it can be seen today right up to the year 2000 when she broke her hip. She was moved to Alice Springs but the property was managed by caretakers so she would return from time to time to help out and oversee. Molly died in 2012 and has been buried back on the property - the grave site is across the creek and is marked with a plaque.

Following Molly's passing, a volunteer caretaker system has been in place to keep up preservation of the site and to enable campers to visit between May and October each season. An announcement by the family in July 2018 stated that the station would be leased to a tourism business to ensure that camping and access to the old homestead would be ongoing and managed professionally. Old Andado does not make profit but has relied on a Volunteer Caretakers system. The family have worked hard to keep Molly's legacy intact.

The Old Andado station is a beautiful and unique place that is now Heritage listed. The interesting feature about this homestead is the early 1950s furnishings, memorabilia, books and artefacts. To this day, visitors have continued to gain access to the site via good signage and local information to help you find your way.

The most important other bit of history to take place at Old Andado was that Dr Cecil Madigan started his 1939 Simpson Desert Scientific Expedition from Old Andado.

From this location you have a number of options:
*day a day trip to Mac Clarke Conservation Reserve 47km (1hr 50min)
*embark on a Trek along the Madigan Line (permits required)
*continue along the Binns Track (Old Andado Track) either north to Alice Springs (320km) or South to Mt Dare Hotel (107km).