Alice Springs

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Alice Springs Telegraph Station

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Carmen
Carmen
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4 out of 5
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Alice Springs Telegraph Station

  • February 10, 2006
  • Rated 4 of 5 by Koentje3000 from Hamme, Belgium
A nice 5km walk along the Todd River will bring you to Alice's most famous and oldest landmark, and the reason for its existence: the old Telegraph Station. The oldest building here, dating from 1872, was set up as a telegraph signal repeater station on the important Darwin-Adelaide telegraph line. More buildings were added later. The whole area is now beautifully restored as a museum, that will give you good information on how the telegraph lines were used.

From journal The Biggest City in the Centre

Editor Pick

Telegraph Station: The Info Superhighway of the Outback

  • January 19, 2006
  • Rated 3 of 5 by Carmen from Fairfax, Virginia
Telegraph Station: The Info Superhighway of the Outback

The sole reason for the existence of a town at the location of Alice Springs was the need for a midway station on the Overland Telegraph Line from Darwin in the north, to Adelaide in the south. Previously, news of births, deaths, and world events would take months to travel by sea. With this station, now it took only hours.

But as a source of information, the station was isolated. It took the people that were stationed here six months to travel here over some of the harshest land this planet has to offer (populated by lots of critters that would as soon kill you as look at you. Even the plants could get you!) They would then stay and work there six months and spend the next six months traveling back home. Now there’s dedication.

This is one of the most well-preserved stations, and the Parks Service tries to maintain it as it would’ve been in the early 1900s. At that time, the station had a blacksmith, the station master, a cook and the telegraph operators.

The tour of the telegraph station is a self-guided walk. You’re given a map in the gift shop (as well as a chance to buy a fly net. The flies are unbelievable!) It reminded me a lot of what I saw on Little House on the Prairie, except hotter and with a dry river.

This is a very interesting stop while in Alice Springs. Count on about an hour here. The stop was included on my tour, so I don’t know the admission price, but as part of the Park Service, I’d wager it was little to no cost.

From journal Alice Springs – Say G’Day and G’Bye

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