The Overland Telegraph, Adelaide to Darwin - Historic Engineering Marker #46 (Darwin) Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
By Team MavEtJu on 11-Oct-15. Waypoint GA7558

The Overland Telegraph, Adelaide to Darwin - Historic Engineering Marker #46 (Darwin)

THE TYRANNY OF DISTANCE

In the early days of the Australian colonies, there was a strong reliance on communication with England, Europe, and the rest of the world. This was where the markets were for rapidly-expanding trade and this was the source of news "from home". Commercial investments spanned the globe and security (in the wake of the Crimean and Franco-Prussian Wars) was an issue of concern. The line of civilian and military government also stretched back to England; with the Westminster Parliament and Courts being the ultimate decision makers.

No wonder the colonists took a keen interest in the speed of electric telegraphy. Prior to this, messages took months to arrive by sea: even the fastest steamer took about 50 days. Once the telegraph line between Melbourne and Adelaide had been completed, cables and newspapers were brought ashore at Adelaide and transmitted to Melbourne and thence up the eastern seaboard. But a direct link with the rest of the world would clearly revolutionise the way business was done and enable personal communications to be greatly improved.

Contents of the plaque in Alice Springs:

THE OVERLAND TELEGRAPH, ADELAIDE TO DARWIN, 1872

The 3178 kilometre line was built in less than two years and joined on 22 August 1872. It linked Australia to an undersea cable from Indonesia that came ashore at Port Darwin. The project was under the direction of Sir Charles Todd, KCMG, MA, FRS, FRAS, FRMS, FSTE, Superintendent of Posts and Telegraphs. Communication between Australia and the rest of the world could now happen in hours rather than weeks. The first telegraph messages from overseas were received near this site on 22 October 1872 via the undersea cable brought ashore on 7 November 1871.

DEDICATED BY THE INSTITUTION OF ENGINEERS, AUSTRALIA, 1999 [CO-SPONSOR, DARWIN]

When logging this virtual, please add a photo of yourself or your GPSr at the plaque.

For more information, please see the nomination PDF at the Heritage Register at the Engineers Australia website: Nomination