Stapleton, Northern Territory

Stapleton is a rural locality in the Coomalie Shire of the Northern Territory, Australia. It is located approximately 10 km (6.2 mi) northwest of Adelaide River and is situated on Stapleton Creek.

Stapleton
Northern Territory
Stapleton
Coordinates13°10′49″S 131°02′35.5″E
Population68 (2016 census)[1]
Established1873 (settlement)
29 October 1997 (locality)[2]
Postcode(s)0822
Location
LGA(s)Coomalie Shire
Territory electorate(s)Daly
Federal Division(s)Lingiari
Suburbs around Stapleton:
Camp Creek Eva Valley
Batchelor		 Adelaide River
Camp Creek Stapleton Adelaide River
Camp Creek Litchfield Park Adelaide River
FootnotesAdjoining suburbs[3][4]

Nomenclature

Stapleton Creek was named by surveyor Gilbert McMinn in 1870 to honour James L Stapleton, a field operator working on the Overland Telegraph who would later be killed in an incident that led to the 1874 Barrow Creek Massacre. The locality takes its name from the creek.[5]

History

The Awarai Aboriginal people are the traditional owners and original inhabitants of the Stapleton area.[6] The first European exploration of the area occurred with the survey party of 1869 led by George Goyder. In 1873, Mr W Barlow, director of the Virginia Prospecting Company discovered a quartz reef and established a mining claim in the area.[7] A hotel known as the "Our House Hotel" was opened by Edward D Matthews next to Stapleton Creek in 1874. The end of the same year, applications had been received for a growing number of mining leases in the area, lodged by both the Virginia company and a number of private prospectors.[8]

A siding and station was constructed and opened with the North Australia Railway to Pine Creek in 1889 to support the mining industry and growing population. Prior to the line, the settlement had been served by the Haimes Royal Mail coach between Southport on its way to the goldfields near Pine Creek.

A cemetery was in use between 1874 and 1902 and is today commemorated by a plaque erected by the NT government with the names of those interred according to the records of the NT genealogical society. [9]

By the 1920s, mining activity had declined and agriculture was becoming the dominant industry in the area. To support the operation of Vestey's Meatworks in Darwin the railway station was expanded with additional sidings as well as stock yards and cattle loading facilities between 1914 and 1917,[10] a sign of the changing local economy and stronger emphasis on pastoralism. Small scale cotton crops were grown with some success during this period.[11]

During World War II, the railway sidings were further expanded and the station became an unloading point for meat and fresh food supplies for troops camped in the area.

In 1966, a site where Stapleton Creek crosses the Stuart Highway, 6 km (3.7 mi) east of the settlement (by this stage little more than a railway siding) was considered for the construction of a flood mitigation and irrigation dam. Despite a geological survey and investigation being conducted by the Commonwealth Government, the dam was not constructed.[12]

Present Day

Little trace remains of the former hotel and railway station today. The area is mostly a rural locality with a number of agricultural properties and a few dwellings close to the creek. A plaque marks the site of the one time cemetery. The unsealed roads through the area are used by locals as an alternative route between Batchelor and Adelaide River.

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References
  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Stapleton (State Suburb)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  2. Palmer, M.J. (29 October 1997). "Place Names Act, NAMING OF PUBLIC PLACE" (PDF). Northern Territory Government Gazette. Northern Territory Government. pp. 5–6. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  3. "Stapleton". NT Atlas and Spatial Data Directory. Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  4. "Coomalie Community Council Localities" (PDF). Place Names Committee. Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  5. NT Place Names Register Stapleton Creek
  6. "Coomalie Planning Concepts and Land Use Objectives" (PDF). Department of Lands, Planning and Environment. 2000. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 April 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2012.
  7. "Fifty Years Ago". The Register(Adelaide). 21 September 1923. Retrieved 3 June 2012.
  8. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3143418?searchTerm=Stapleton+Creek Virginia&searchLimits=
  9. http://members.iinet.net.au/~genient/photographs_Plaques_nt_cemeteries.html
  10. http://www.atr.org.au/specials/nt_all_aboardnov06.pdf
  11. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article64186298?searchTerm=Stapleton+Creek&searchLimits=l-decade=192
  12. "Preliminary Geological Investigation of Stapleton Creek Damsite" (PDF). Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics. 18 December 1967. Retrieved 3 June 2012.
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