The story of this place
For over 30,000 years, the Arrernte people have called this place Mparntwe, a spiritual landscape where every rock and waterhole tells a creation story. European settlement began in 1872 when the Overland Telegraph Station was established, connecting Australia to the world. The town was named after Alice Todd, wife of the South Australian Postmaster-General who oversaw the telegraph line.
During World War II, Alice Springs became a crucial staging base, with 200,000 personnel passing through. The town's isolation bred unique traditions: the Henley-on-Todd Regatta, a 'boat race' on the dry Todd River bed that's been cancelled only three times—when there was actually water in the river. The Camel Cup draws thousands annually. But Alice Springs is also home to Pine Gap, the joint US-Australian satellite surveillance facility that's been controversial since the Cold War. The town sits nearly equidistant from Adelaide and Darwin, truly the heart of the continent.