|
Welcome
to Darwin
Introduction
| Special Dates | Centenary
of Federation
Aboriginal Connections | Colourful
Characters
Connecting the Kids | Photo
Gallery | WebCam
Repeater Station (Archived Chats and Forum)
The contractors
in charge of the construction of the northern
section of the Overland Telegraph Line left Adelaide by ship
on the fully laden SS Omeo and landed at the remote north outpost
Darwin (then called Port Darwin) on 9 September 1870. There were
80 men, 78 horses, and 10 bullocks on board.
Just six days
after their arrival, the first pole was erected on the corner
of Cavenagh Street and the Esplanade. Two days after that, they
had erected several kilometres and the telegraph men started to
move south. It seemed all was going smoothly for the start of
the building of the northern section.
The contract
stipulated there should be two working parties. One would build
the section from Port Darwin to where the Strangways River joined
the Roper River. There
a depot would be established to support the second party which
would start building the line south from there (following explorer
John McDouall Stuart's route), joining up with the northern end
of the Central section of
the line.
It sounded
simple enough. The trouble was, that the 400 kms from Port Darwin
to the Roper River was mostly unexplored. A route could only be
sketched as far as the Adelaide River.
So it was
decided to concentrate all the men on building the first part
of the line from Port Darwin to make quick progress and get that
part of the line completed before the wet season started.
They split
into two parties; Party B would build the line from Port Darwin
around the coast to Southport
and then up the Blackmore River to Tumbling Waters, a distance
of about 65 kms. Party A would be taken by boat to Southport and
then continue by boat to Tumbling Waters and build the section
from there to the Adelaide
River, about 73 kms south.
The Darwin
to Tumbling Waters party pitched their first camp four kms from
Port Darwin on September 20, 1870. Six days later they were at
Knuckey's Lagoon and laid another six kms to Packard's Knob by
October 3. They had a clear route all the way through the heavily
forested land and although they would have no difficulty finding
timber for the poles, it was going to be slow, arduous work.
|
|
| Click
on the maps above to view MAP DETAILS or use the map
on the left to go directly to a location. |
|
|
