HISTORY

Alice Springs is a town  which owes its origins to the telecomunications industry.

In the 1860's the overland telegraph line was built to link Australia and England by cable.  The telegraph station at Alice Springs opened in 1872 as a  repeater station  mid-way  between Adelaide in the south and Darwin on the northern coast.  Messages were received in morse code and retransmitted in both directions. Closely following the telepgraph line were the Overlanders (the pastoralists) who moved vast mobs of cattle from the eastern states to Central and Western Australia in some of the biggest cattle drives in the world.

In the days before telephone technology was well developed the Pedal Radio, invented by Alf Traeger, provided radio links between remote cattle stations and that other Australian icon, the Flying Doctor and cast a mantle of safety over the inland.

The Telegraph Station still exists, but as a National Park.  Morse Code and the pedal radio are no longer used.  They been surplanted by the modern telephone, satelite and intenet communications.  The pastoralists are still here and cattle are a staple industry of the Centre.

Contemporary Alice Springs is the thriving hub of Central Australia supplying goods and services to this region as well as recognising its origins and original inhabitants.

It is a town with two distinct histories, one as recorded and told by the non Aboriginal people who live here, the other, as experienced and told by the Arrernte Aboriginal people, the traditional custodians, of the area.

While the history of European settlement is as recent as some one hundred and thirty years (the coming of the telegraph and pastoralists), that of Aboriginal people extends back some forty thousand years.  Both histories are exciting and worth your exploring when you visit this region. They are accessible in every sense of the word.

Please take time to visit the many museums, art galleries and places of interest while you are here.  We estimate a minimum of seven days to get acquainted with the town and its environs.
 

 
Accommodation Eating Out Places of Interest in Town 150 Km Around Alice
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