Katherine, Northern Territory, celebrates 100 years since official gazetting

Katherine, a town in Australia's Northern Territory, marks its centenary as an officially gazetted entity this year, a milestone achieved in 1926 with the completion of its railway bridge. For centuries, Katherine has served as a vital meeting point and a crucial crossroads for travel across the vast northern Australian landscape.

Early European settlement in the late 1800s was driven by its role on the overland telegraph line. However, the modern township emerged in 1926, bringing investment and the first proper homes. Life in those early days was challenging, with town historian Simmone Croft describing dwellings as "more like shanties." Residents endured harsh heat without air conditioning or refrigeration, relying on a limited diet of salt beef and dampers, supplemented by whatever they could grow.

The town's history is also marked by significant social and political events. The mass walk-off from Wave Hill Station in the 1960s, which brought national attention to the inadequate payment of Aboriginal workers, occurred southwest of Katherine and became a pivotal moment in the land rights movement. Traditional owner and Jawoyn elder Lisa Mumbin highlighted the difficult experiences of Aboriginal stockmen and their families during this era.

Katherine has long been a melting pot of cultures. Early Chinese migrants contributed culinary skills, often working as cooks on cattle stations. Displaced by civil war, Russian refugees also settled in the town during the 1920s and 1930s, initially assisting with railway construction. Although their peanut farming enterprise ultimately failed due to mold issues, many Russians remained, leaving a legacy in place names like Cossack.

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It would have been pretty hard living in this heat with no air conditioning, no fans, basically no refrigeration, so people lived on salt beef, dampers and whatever they could grow.