Alice Springs

The Arrente Aboriginals have lived around Alice Springs for 20,000 years who call the town Mparntwe. The town was established as a settlement for the camel trains that ran north-south through Australia. Originally named Stuart, the name was changed in 1933 when the telegraph station near a waterhole named Alice Springs expanded into the town after the railway station was built and the Ghan railway expanded further north. Tourism and the Pine Gap satellite monitoring base now provide Alice with it's industry. Charles Todd, Superintendant of Telegraphs, gave his name to the river and a street while the town is named after his wife, Alice, a woman who never visited the area.