Alice Springs Telegraph Station

Fascinating to go round these historic buildings, where the displays are first class. In 1870-1872 Charles Todd, Superintendent of Telegraphs for South Australia, laid a line of wire across the continent from Adelaide to Darwin, where they were able to connect to an undersea cable connecting with Java, Asia and Europe. This outrageously bold achievement connected Australia for the first time with the rest of the world, and put a bright red feather in South Australia's cap. The discovery of a spring (or so they thought - it's mostly dry now) at this spot enabled one of the key telegraph stations to be established at this parched location.