Alice Springs History

Pre 20th Century

It is believed that Aborigines have occupied the Australian land mass for at least 50,000 years and possibly for as long as 70,000 years, though the continent's interior was not inhabited until about 24,000 years ago. Much of Central Australia, including Alice Springs, is the traditional homeland of the Arrernte Aboriginal people. All the topographical features of Mparntwe (the Arrernte word for Alice Springs) were formed by the creative ancestral beings - the Yeperenye, Ntyarlke and Utnerrengatye caterpillars - as they crawled across the landscape from Emily Gap (Anthwerrke), in the East MacDonnell Ranges.

Early attempts to settle the Northern Territory were mainly due to British fears that the French or Dutch might get a foothold in Australia. In 1862 explorer John McDougall Stuart led an expedition (his third and final attempt) through the centre, to the north coast, navigating and mapping the country for white settlement. Indeed, Alice Springs was initially called Stuart. Nowadays the Stuart Highway honours his remarkable feats of exploration and leadership. Following in his footsteps, the construction of the Overland Telegraph Line from Adelaide to Darwin was completed in 1872, making it viable for pastoralists to take up leases in the centre. However it wasn't until gold was discovered 100km (62mi) east of Stuart that the otherwise desolate area really began to experience a population boom. Around this time, Afghan Cameleers also forged their place in Central Australian history, driving their camel trains 600km (373mi) across the desert to deliver essential provisions from the railhead at Oodnadatta to Stuart.

Modern

In 1929, a railway line linked Stuart (by now everyone was calling it Alice) with Adelaide, so that it was no longer totally isolated from the rest of the country. In 1933, the town was officially named Alice Springs, after a brief and confusing period of being called Telegraph Station. The actual Telegraph Station still exists today, as a National Park.

As recently as the 1950s Alice Springs was still a tiny town with a population in the hundreds, but there would be rapid growth over the next two decades. During the 1960s it became an important defence location, with the development of the US/Australian Pine Gap joint defence satellite monitoring base.

Recent

Over the years, Alice Springs has built a reputation as a tough place for any stranger to find themselves in, particularly in the rough old pubs that used to line Todd St. But these days it has a much less volatile personality, having settled into a new role as service provider for the hordes of tourists keen to experience the outback charms of the MacDonnell Ranges and Uluru. The town itself still bears fascinating remnants of its pioneering days, plus some excellent ecological attractions, museums and high-profile institutions such as the Royal Flying Doctor Service and the School of the Air.