thumb|Location of Pine Creek in the Northern Territory (red)

Pine Creek is a small town in the Katherine region of the Northern Territory, Australia. It is situated just off the Stuart Highway, and is 90kms north of Katherine. As at the 2021 Census there were 318 residents, making the town the fourth largest between Darwin and Alice Springs.

The Wagiman, Jawoyn Bolmo, Matjba and Wurrkbarbar groups are the traditional owners of this area and, since 2019, they have held exclusive native title rights over this land.

In 2005 a prominent resident, Edward Ah Toy, was recognised as the Northern Territorian of the year.

History

Pine Creek is one of the oldest towns in the Northern Territory and it is named for the pine trees that once grew by the creek in the centre of the town. Although it was originally and officially called Playford, the name was not in popular use and was officially changed to Pine Creek on 20 September 1973. Of the town, SW Herbert wrote:

By 1875 there were two hotels, The Royal Mail and The Standard, competing for business. A public school opened in 1899. By the 1890s, as many as 15 mines were operating in the area, and the town's population exceeded 3000 people.

The towns population fluctuated significantly in its early years and declined significantly in the interwar period; one of the few developments in this period was the establishment of the short lived Pine Creek Home between 1931–1933; it was briefly reopened in the early war years 1940–1941 as a place were children who were being transferred from government institutions to church missions.

Mining

Immediately after the construction of the Overland Telegraph Line in 1872, gold was discovered at the Eleanour Reef at Pine Creek by Wentworth D'Arcy Uhr. There is an alternative story in which Darwent & Dalwood found gold while digging holes for the telegraph line, but the government suppressed this as the government did not wish to publicise the discovery to avoid the 'distraction' of a gold rush Despite this, a discovery by Uhr is more widely accepted. News of this discovery spread quickly and, by January 1873, 23 mining claims had been taken up and resulted in the creation of the township. It was here that the Northern Territory's first stamp battery was constructed in July 1873.

Chinese miners, mostly from the Kwangtung Province, began arriving in Pine Creek in 1874 and 176 of these were indentured by the South Australian government. In 1877, following the discovery of substantial alluvial gold deposits they began arriving in great numbers. In 1879 a Chinatown was established and the population reached its peak of 900 people. However, this mining boom was short-lived as, by 1882, only 80 miners remained and by 1886 it was virtually inactive. The population of the town in 1894 was 753 Chinese people and 39 'Europeans'.

There was a cycle of economic growth and decline at Pine Creek but, by 1915. approximately 75,000 ounces (over 2,000 kgs) of gold had been mined there. In June 2007, Territory Resources (trading under the name Territory Iron) commenced mining iron ore and gold there. In October 2014, the mine was used for filming an episode of the BBC television program Top Gear. The mine ceased operations in January 2015, after a drop in the price of iron ore, leading to the departure of many local employees. In April 2020, it was announced that mining would resume in May 2020, after a 5-year hiatus.

Also, in 1985, Pine Creek Goldfields Limited opened an open-cut gold mine adjacent to the town, on the site of an old shaft mine. Over a ten-year period, it yielded of gold. Since closure, its main pit has been filled with water to prevent acid build-up. A lookout is located at the south-western end of Moule Street.

North Australia Railway

The first stage of the lightly built narrow-gauge North Australia Railway was built between Port Darwin and Pine Creek, reaching the town in 1889. Additional sidings were added to the rail yards in 1914 in preparation for the extension of the line south to Emungalan (Katherine), which opened in 1917. An unsealed road was constructed in the 1930s, following the same route as the railway from Adelaide River to Larrimah, and passing through Pine Creek. Much of this poorly maintained road would later become the Stuart Highway.

The railway closed in 1976. The old Pine Creek railway station (1888) and some rolling stock remained and were preserved as the Pine Creek Railway Precinct; Commonwealth Railways steam locomotive NF5, built in 1877, was restored to operational condition in 2001.

The North Australia Railway's standard-gauge successor, completed in 2004 between Alice Springs and Darwin – part of the Adelaide–Darwin rail corridor – is used by heavy freight trains and the experiential tourism train, The Ghan; it passes east of the town.

World War II

During World War II, the Australian Army set up 65th Australian Camp Hospital near Pine Creek. The Pine Creek Airfield, initially a civilian airfield, was extended between May and July 1942 by the US Army 808th Engineer Aviation Battalion as an emergency landing ground and to serve the military units based in the town. The 43rd Engineer Regiment, of the US Army, with help from the 808th and, later, the Allied Works Council also constructed the nearby MacDonald Airfield (originally known as Burkholder Field). Unlike many Top End towns, Pine Creek was not bombed by the Japanese during the war, although Japanese reconnaissance aircraft are reported to have overflown the town on at least one occasion.

It was also during the war years that sealed, all weather sections of the Stuart Highway were constructed, providing transport alternatives to the railway. Work on the road was completed in this area by 1944.

  • Pine Creek Post Office and Repeater Station
  • North Australia Railway (NAR) remnants at Pine Creek
  • Old Pine Creek Butchery
  • Old Playford Club Hotel
  • Old Bonrook Station Homestead
  • Pine Creek Railway Precinct, including a railway museum

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">

File:Telegraph Station, Pine Creek in 1879.tif|Telegraph Station, Pine Creek in 1879

File:Pine Creek School, 1912.tif|Pine Creek School, 1912

File:Pine Creek Police Station in the 1920s.tif|Pine Creek Police Station in the 1920s

File:Pine Creek Railway Station, 1930.tif|Pine Creek Railway Station, 1930

File:Pine Creek Hotel, c. 1930.tif|Pine Creek Hotel, c. 1930

File:Tourist map of Pine Creek, 1992.tif|Tourist map of Pine Creek, 1992

</gallery>

Climate

According to the Koppen climate classification, Pine Creek experiences a tropical savannah climate (Aw), typical of the Top End region of the Northern Territory.

Notes

References

  • Pine Creek Town Council