Alice Springs Telegraph Station

The Telegraph Station is the birthplace of the Alice Springs township. It is an excellent value and must see destination to add to your itinerary while visiting the Northern Territory.

Situated 4km north of the Town Centre, the Alice Springs Telegraph Station is easily accessible for a visit. You can visit the Alice Springs Telegraph Station by car along the Stuart Highway and Herbert Heritage Drive. Alternatively, the Riverside Path along the Todd River provides either a scenic short walk or cycle along the sealed path.

The Alice Springs Telegraph Station Historical Reserve marks the original site of the first European settlement in Alice Springs. It was stablished in 1871 to relay messages between Darwin and Adelaide along Australia’s Overland Telegraph Line. This not only connected Australia’s population centres with the north of the country, but it also connected Australia up with the undersea telegraph network of the British Empire. Prior to 1872, a message back to England would travel by boat and take 3 to 4 months each way. However, after the telegraph line was built, morse code messages travelling through Alice Springs could reach London in as little as 5 hours – slow by today’s standards, but revolutionary for people of the 19th century!