Stenhouse Bay, South Australia
Encyclopedia
The township of Stenhouse Bay is at the western tip of Yorke Peninsula
Yorke Peninsula
The Yorke Peninsula is a peninsula located north-west and west of Adelaide in South Australia, Australia, between Spencer Gulf on the west and Gulf St Vincent on the east. It has geographic coordinates of...

 in South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

. It was named after Andrew Stenhouse, who in the 1920s had a business called the Permascite Manufacturing Company. He helped start the gypsum
Gypsum
Gypsum is a very soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO4·2H2O. It is found in alabaster, a decorative stone used in Ancient Egypt. It is the second softest mineral on the Mohs Hardness Scale...

 industry in this location.

The Waratah Gypsum Company had works here for the quarrying and exporting of rock gypsum. Gypsum after being washed, roasted and ground, was used in the manufacturing of plaster of paris and cement
Cement
In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...

. The quality of the gypsum in this area was exceptionally high class and most of Australia's needs were supplied from here.

The Waratah Gypsum Company closed its works and the town was sold to the South Australian Government which demolished the town except for the few houses required for the rangers of the National Parks and Wildlife Organization who look after Innes National Park
Innes National Park
Innes is a national park on the southwest tip of Yorke Peninsula in South Australia , 160 km west of Adelaide.-Environment:Innes is the largest area of native vegetation remaining on the Yorke Peninsula, providing habitat for 115 species of conservation significance...

.
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