Emungalan is a suburb in the town of Katherine, Northern Territory,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It is within the

Katherine Town Council The Katherine Town Council is a local government area in the Northern Territory, established on 3 March 1978. It is situated south of Darwin, and covers an area of . The Town of Katherine is an established residential township with a commerc ...

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

. The name Emungalan is believed to come from an

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

word meaning "Place of Stone" or "Stony". The area was officially defined as a suburb in April 2007, adopting the name from the former railhead settlement north of the Katherine River.

History

Emungalan was surveyed in 1917, when works to extend the

Palmerston and Pine Creek Railway The North Australia Railway was a narrow gauge railway in the Northern Territory of Australia which ran from the territory capital of Darwin, once known as Palmerston, to Birdum, just south of Larrimah. Initially its name was the ''Palmerst ...

south to the Katherine River neared completion. The original settlement on the river at Knott's Crossing relocated closer to the railhead. Within a year of the line opening, by 1918 Emungalan was served by a post office and police station as well as a number of businesses. The permanent population was estimated at 20 people. At its peak the town grew to 200 residents, boasting a hotel, an airstrip and a racecourse. A school initially operated out of the railway station building to serve the district before a permanent facility was opened in 1923. The town declined rapidly following the completion of the bridge across the Katherine River in 1926, when the railway station along with many homes and businesses relocated to the current site of the Katherine CBD. The airstrip remained in use until 1930 when it was also relocated across the river.

Present day

A small cemetery adjacent to the abandoned North Australia Railway line is the most intact reminder of the former settlement and is listed on the Northern Territory Heritage Register. The area around the junction of the Stuart Highway and Emungalan Road is now an industrial area, with some agriculture and rural residential development particularly around Leight Creek, a tributary of the Katherine River. The suburb has been identified as a future focus for further industrial development and medium term planning calls for upgrades to water and sewerage allowing residential subdivision. Kalano

community is located in the east of the suburb, as is the

administrative chambers.

References

Suburbs of Katherine, Northern Territory {{NorthernTerritory-geo-stub