A Brief History of Darwin

First Settlement

Port Darwin was named by John Stokes in 1839, after Charles Darwin the famous scientist. The first settlement was established in 1869 after the South Australian Government's Surveyor General selected a suitable site.

Beef & Gold

The beef industry developed from an early stage and the discover of gold in 1870 at Pine Creek brought preopectors to the area, including 7000 Chinese.

The Front Door

With the joining of the submarine telegraph cable from England and the pioneering and record breaking flights to Australia, Darwin became known as Australia's Front Door and is now Australia's gateway to South East Asia.

World War II

Darwin was attacked on 19th Feb 1942 by Japanese aircraft from the same fleet that had 75 days previsously devasted Pearl Harbour. There were over 60 more air raids on the Top End during 1942 and 1943 and Darwin became a huge military area with over 250,000 troops passing through.

Cyclone Tracy

On 25 December 1974 Cyclone Tracy destroyed Darwin, killing 64 people and injuring thousands more. Over 30,000 people were airlifted to southern centres in the largest airlift in Australia's history. Darwin was subsequently rebuilt into the modern vibrant city it is today.

Self Government

Although still a territory, the Northern Territory was granted Self Government on 1 July 1988 and the modern impressive Parliament House building was opened in 1995.