Family members mark historic anniversary of the Overland Telegraph Line in Territory outback

The NT will celebrate one of Australia’s greatest engineering feats with the marking of 150 years since the completion of the Overland Telegraph Line.

THE Territory will celebrate one of Australia’s greatest engineering feats with the marking of 150 years since the completion of the Overland Telegraph Line.

The 3200km line between Darwin with Port Augusta was completed in 1872, opening the colonies up to communication with the rest of the world.

On Monday a group of dignitaries will travel to Frew Ponds, 90km south of Daly Waters, to mark the 150th anniversary of the historic milestone.

John Lewis was one of those present for the connection after having run the “pony express” mail delivery service, which previously linked the two ends of the line and his great, great grandson, Nick Thethowan, is set to retrace his steps.

“The first trip they did was more than 400 kilometres between Tennant Creek and Daly Waters and it took them about two weeks,” Mr Thethowan said.

“Once he and the team arrived, they’d deliver the mail, load up with telegrams again and head back the way they had just come.

“As the telegraph line progressed more and more his trips got shorter and shorter until the lines were connected at Frew Ponds on August 22, 1872.”

Mr Thethowan said he was proud of his family connection to the Overland Telegraph Line and wanted to travel to Frew Ponds to “get a sense of the place”.

“I really wanted to be able to experience the country and try and get a sense for what it would have been like building this amazing line,” he said.

Alexander Mitchell, Charles Todd, Robert Patterson, John Little, who worked on the line.

“The people who built this would have been hard as nails, would never have given up and would have had to have worked their arses off.”

Heritage Minister Chansey Paech said the joining of the two ends of the line in 1872 had “shaped the economic and social prosperity of the NT and reformed Australia by breaking its isolation from the rest of the world”.

“Back in the day, the completion of the Overland Telegraph Line was as exciting and pertinent to the worldwide communication landscape as the more recent arrival of the internet — the vibe would have been amazing,” he said.

“The many tales of tenacity and toil, tears, triumph and tragedy that ran along the line continue to bear witness to the strength and commitment of those who worked so hard, in adverse and extreme conditions, to connect our country to the rest of the world.”