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Alice Springs is best known outside the region as the setting of the Nevil Shute novel A Town Like Alice, and because of its proximity to Uluru, formerly known as Ayers Rock, the monolithic hill that is one of Australia's best-known natural landmarks as well as an important focus of Aboriginal culture and beliefs.
Originally named Stuart, the town was established almost as a frontier settlement for north-south travel by camel trains through the desert of the outback. A telegraph station was placed near a permanent waterhole called Alice Springs (see photograph) after the wife of Sir Charles Todd, Postmaster General of South Australia, after whom the River Todd (which is usually dry) was named. The railway from Adelaide reached Stuart in 1929Centuries: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s Years: 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 See also 1929 in aviation 1929 in film 1929 in literature 1929 in mu, and the town moved away from the waterhole, but locals kept the name. In 1933Centuries: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s Years: 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 See also 1933 in aviation 1933 in film 1933 in literature 1933 in mu, after much debate, the town of Stuart was officially renamed Alice Springs. However, the north-south road between Darwin, Alice Springs and Adelaide is still called the Stuart HighwayThe Stuart Highway A87 is one of Australia's major roadways. The highway is named for John McDouall Stuart, the first European to cross Australia from North to South. The Stuart Highway covers aproximately 2,700 km (1,670 miles), connecting Adelaide in So.
Almost in the exact center of the continent, Alice Springs is some 700 kilometres from the nearest ocean and 1500 kilometres from the nearest major cities: Darwin and Adelaide. Alice Springs is now the midpoint of Adelaide-Darwin Railway.
It became an important defence location with the development of the U.S/Australian Pine GapPine Gap is the commonly used name for a satellite tracking station near the city of Alice Springs in the heart of Australia that is owned and operated by the U. It consists of a large computer complex with eight radomes protecting antennae, and has over joint defense satellite monitoring base, home to about 700 workers from both countries, but by far the major industry is tourismTourism can be defined as the act of travel for the purpose of recreation, and the provision of services for this act. A tourist is someone who travels at least fifty miles from home, as defined by the World Tourism Organization (a United Nations body)..