A visit to the Historical Precinct is the best way to immerse yourself in the history of the Alice Springs Telegraph Station. Discover the origin of Alice Springs as a town and its interesting characters throughout its history. But here is a little snippet of what you will learn when you come and see us.

For thousands of years Arrente people met in what we now know as Alice Springs for ceremonies and to exchange goods.  The Arrente word for this place is Mparntwe.

In July 1862 explorer John McDouall Stuart led an expedition (his third and final attempt) through the Centre of Australia.  Travelling to the north coast, he was navigating and mapping the country for European settlement. He survived where the likes of Leichhardt and Burke & Wills perished, because he studied how the aboriginal people lived and was able to travel much lighter and faster, foraging for food and digging for water rather than trying to drag tonnes of supplies through the desert.  As arguably Australia’s pre-eminent explorer, the Stuart Highway now honours his remarkable feats of exploration and leadership.

Following in Stuart’s footsteps, the South Australian government allocated $250,000 for the construction of an Overland Telegraph Line in October 1870. The line was to extend from Port Augusta in South Australia, to Palmerston (now Darwin), a route closely following that of McDouall Stuart to make use of the water supplies he mapped out along the way. Construction of the Overland Telegraph line began in early 1871, involving around 500 men split into three sections. In December of that year, the first Morse signals were sent along the completed southern section of the line. However, the northern team encountered a violent monsoon that summer which washed away more than
a thousand of the telegraph poles they planted, and cut them off from resupply until Todd was able to get a barge up the flooded roper river to rescue them.  The north and central sections of the line were eventually joined on August 22nd, 1872 at Frew Ponds, near Dunmarra.  Unfortunately there were problems with the undersea cable linking Palmerston with Java that were not resolved until October.

The final cost of the line was nearer twice the original estimate, but the prestige for South Australia was immense. It was truly one of the great engineering feats of the 19th century!