TENNANT CREEK TELEGRAPH STATION

Tennant Creek Telegraph Station was the only building for miles at the end of the 19th century. The repeater station, part of the overland telegraph line network across Australia, received and resent telegraph messages to and from places all over the world, 24 hours a day.

Messages were transmitted by pulses of electric current using Morse Code and powered by batteries. The stations were sited in proximity to the next one to receive signals which faded over distance.

Whilst the men living at the telegraph station had access to messages from all over the world, they were isolated from their families and friends. Supplies only arrived every six months, so they needed to be self sufficient. They had a garden for fresh vegetables, and sheep for meat. A cellar kept food cool and much of their meat was salted or smoked to preserve it. Repairs were done in the blacksmith shop.

Linesmen patrolled their section of the line regularly for maintenance. They hastened to fix any damage caused by lightening. And so it was the Territory opened up to settlement, prospectors, cattlemen, settlers and others. Anyone running out of food or water had only to cut the line, knowing a linesman would be along soon to fix it.

Gold, discovered by a linesman in 1925, led to the present Tennant Creek township and the closure of the Telegraph Station.

Self Guided Walk