Place Names Register Extract

Southport Siding

Extract date: 08/12/2024

Name Southport Siding
Type Designation Railway Siding
Place Id 18512
Place Type Feature
Status Historical
Date Registered
Location (Datum GDA94)  
Latitude: -12° 46' S (Decimal degrees -12.7706)
Longitude: 131° 00' E (Decimal degrees 131.01)
Locality / Suburb  
  Berry Springs
Local Government Area  
  Litchfield Council
History/Origin This railway siding is so named as it gave access to the Town of Southport.
During Goyders Survey of Port Darwin and Environs in 1869, four small satellite towns were surveyed in the hinterland around Darwin. Southport, as one of these satellite towns was pegged at the junction of the Blackmore and the Darwin Rivers and soon became the commencement point for overlanders to the Pine Creek goldfields.
When, in 1885, the rail link between Palmerston and Pine Creek bypassed the town on a more direct route, Southport slowly declined in status.
Wells, floor slabs and other relics are all that remain from the once prosperous town which was larger than Palmerston. The old Cemetery contains some 60 people who died at Southport during those early years. Only in recent years have people again begun to reside on the freehold lots of this old historic Townsite.

Register & Gazettal information

Date Gazettal Comment
  (None Found)  

The Northern Territory Gazetteer is maintained by the Place Names Section,
Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics.
GPO Box 1680, Darwin NT 0801. Ph 08 8995 5333.
place.names@nt.gov.au

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