Katherine Area - Pioneering Spirit

The first people to inhabit the Katherine region were the Jawoyn and Dagomen Aboriginal people.

Explorer John McDouall Stuart passed through the region in 1862 and named the river 'Katherine' after the daughter of his sponsor, James Chambers. Her name was actually spelt with a 'C'.

As with many settlements in the Territory, the town developed with the arrival of the Overland Telegraph Line and establishment of the Telegraph Station in 1872.

The town moved twice during this early development, finally establishing at its current site with the completion of the railway bridge in 1926.

In 1879, after good reports from Stuart and other explorers, Alfred Giles and Alfred Woods brought stock to Katherine and built a homestead they called 'Spring Vale', with a view to establishing a pastoral empire. Today, Springvale Homestead is the oldest homestead in the Northern Territory and is open to the public.

Katherine's early history is depicted at a number of sites around the region. The Katherine Museum, housed in the original aerodrome, features the De Havilland Gypsy Moth aircraft flown by the first 'flying doctor', Dr Clive Fenton.

O'Keefe House was built from bush materials by officers in WWII as a recreation hut and was later owned by John and Olive O'Keefe. Olive flew with Dr Clive Fenton in the 1930s.

Pine Creek, 90 kilometres north of Katherine, operated as a gold mining town until 1995 and is famed for its gold mining and railway heritage. This is exhibited around the tiny town at sites like the Pine Creek National Trust Museum and the Railway Station Museum.

The latter includes an 1877 steam locomotive - thought to be the oldest restored locomotive in Australia.