Extract date: 08/12/2024
Name | Southport Siding |
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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. |
Date | Gazettal | Comment |
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(None Found) |