about twenty cottages scattered about". At the time of the 1881 Census Menindee had a population of 261 persons (156 males and 105 females). A new post and telegraph office was completed at Menindee in 1881. Soon after it was built it was described by a correspondent as "by far the most handsome building in the town". A visitor to Menindee in August 1881 described the lay-out of the town as "higgledy-piggledy", adding: "Perched on a collection of little sandhills, which effectually raise it above all floods, it is composed of buildings, most of them brick, which, judging from their appearance, might have been dropped down by chance, like a collection of children's toy bricks". At the time of the 1891 Census Menindee had a population of 194 persons (113 males and 81 females). A January 1924 account of Menindee describes it as "probably the most casual of all villages in the State". The "dozen or so houses that constitute Menindie" seemed to be set out without a town-plan; "of streets or roads, there are none, the only few yards of made surface being the approach to the punt". A direct railway connection between Sydney and Broken Hill was accomplished with the completion in October 1927 of a railway bridge over the Darling near Menindee. The iron bridge was of the bascule type, with a centre span hinging at one end to permit river steamers to pass. The bridge had provision for a roadway as well as a railway on a single deck. Heritage listings Menindee has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: 15 km south-west: Kinchega Woolshed Population According to the 2016 census of Population, there were 551 people in Menindee. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 36.1% of the population. 79.3% of people were born in Australia and 84.3% of people only spoke English at home. The most common responses for religion were No Religion 35.3% and Roman Catholic 23.6%. Geography The village of Menindee sits on a sandhill above the floodplain on the north bank of the Darling River. The sand dunes and sand plains of the area are characterised by light-textured red sand and loams which are susceptible to wind erosion. The floodplain is characterised by a grey cracking clay (black soil) supporting open woodlands dominated by black box trees. The Kinchega National Park is situated on the western edge of town. Natural environment