Social History
One of the oldest surviving structures in the town of Newcastle Waters is Jones Store. The store sold provisions to droving plants that moved cattle over Murranji, Barkly and North-South stock routes, the junction of these being Newcastle Waters. The store also saw use as a butchery, bakery and a saddlery shop. Many other buildings of significance in the town include the Junction Hotel in which memorabilia of the hotel and the town's droving past is displayed.
Tuxworth-Fullwood House is the headquarters of the Tennant Creek National Trust. This property, constructed in 1942 by the Australian Military Forces as 55 Army Camp Hospital, is also a former outpatients clinic for the Tennant Creek district. Displays, including a diorama of a miners camp, focus on settlement, mining and development of the region. Outdoor displays include a police cell, C1930s, and a mine site. An extensive archive houses the Tuxworth and Fullwood collections relating to local history.
Built in 1907-08, this building served as the town's gaol until 1938. Stuart Town Gaol was the town's first official building. Although it is architecturally simple in style, its use of local materials if of great importance. The floor plan and fittings reflect the harsh discriminatory treatment of prisoners during the time of its use. The display focus is on the history of law and order in Central Australia and the conditions under which prisoners were kept until 1938.
The house originally constructed as an Officer's Mess in 1942, is a classic example of bush technology utilising bush timber, corrugated iron and flywire. An outstanding feature of the property is its garden, shaded by huge mango trees. The house is of great heritage importance due to associations with the military occupation during World War II and its use by well known pioneer families. Restoration works were carried out in 1987-88. The display material highlights the involvement of pioneering families and the O'Keeffes in particular, in the post war development of Katherine.
The important thing is the display of medical history, from the 19th Century right up to the UN Peacekeeping force in East Timor. The display consists of photographs, documents, weapons, uniforms, medals, flags etc. displayed in the indoor sections of the Museum, while some very large items are displayed in the outdoor sections, including all anti-aircraft guns, field guns, a tank, a ship's radar antenna, an old Navel anchor and a battered aircraft propeller with a dramatic history of air-sea rescue. The location of the War Museum is special, as it is situated against a natural backdrop of...
Battery Hill Mining centre is a heritage site with guided tours of a ten head stamp battery and underground mine. The collection consists of 200 items of machinery pertaining to the Mining Industry. Free access is available to the mining machinery.The collection includes approx 200 items of machinery placed outside along pathways and across acres of land; items include a winderbox, headframe, furnaces and portal rock drills. Original assay equipment and scales with photographic and text displays are held in a small museum, which was the assay building, designed by Museum and Art gallery of...
The Strehlow Research Centre was built by the Northern Territory Government to safely house the Strehlow Collection which is used as a cultural resource by aboriginal people, academic researchers and interested members of the general public when appropriate and, if necessary, sanctioned by aboriginal elders.The Strehlow Research Centre, established in 1991 under the Strehlow Research Centre Act, serves as a keeping place for cultural material relating to the aboriginal people of central Australia. The collection was accumulated between 1932 and 1978 and reflects both a sacred and open range...
Molly Clark of Old Andado Station founded Australia's National Pioneer Women's Hall of Fame in 1993. It is a national project dedicated to preserving the place of women in history and their special contribution to Australia's heritage. The National Pioneer Women's Hall of Fame is currently building up a collection of stories, photographs, artifacts and memorabilia relating to pioneering women, as well as a reference library of books, video and audio cassettes relating to Australian women's history. We are intending to put our databases online in the near future including our HerStory...