Riverdale Native Hostel

Riverdale Station, covering some 460 000 acres north-east of Nullagine and included the town of Nullagine, was purchased by the Department of Native Welfare for the use of the McLeod Group but the offer was never taken up. The Department subsequently approached the Apostolic Mission Board with a proposal to establish a small school in Nullagine and, if successful, the property would be handed over to the mission. In the meantime the Department was willing to pay the wages of couple appointed, and supply them with free board and lodging. Apostolic Church missionaries George & Rosa Stevens, previously at Jigalong, were sent to occupy the site as soon as possible and by the end of January 1957 they had converted the site into what was thereafter known as Riverdale Native Hostel. Upon opening there were 12 Aboriginal people in Nullagine, but by the end of 1959 there were 30 children attending the school. The facility was deemed a success, but remained in the ownership of the Department