Noonamah is an outer rural suburban area of Darwin. it is 45 km southeast of the Darwin CBD. Its

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 ...

is the

Litchfield Municipality The Litchfield Council is a local government area of the Northern Territory of Australia on the eastern and southeastern outskirts of the Darwin-Palmerston urban area. The municipality covers an area of , and was created by the Northern Territ ...

. The suburb is mostly a rural area, but has been experiencing strong growth in population and development. The Elizabeth River flows through Noonamah towards the East Arm of

Darwin Harbour Darwin Harbour is the body of water close to Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia. It opens to the north at a line from Charles Point in the west to Lee Point in the east into the Beagle Gulf and connects via the Clarence Strait wit ...

History

The name of the locality was applied in 1941. "Noonamah" was taken from the language of the Wagaman Aboriginal people and means "plenty of tucker and good things". In 1942, a railway siding and storage depot were constructed on the

North Australia 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 ...

at the site of present-day Noonamah, to support the

Strauss Airfield Strauss Airfield was an airfield in the Northern Territory of Australia in the locality of Noonamah constructed between 19 March to 27 April 1942 during World War II. It was also known as 27 Mile Field or Humpty Doo Strip. History Construc ...

and a number of nearby military airfields being established in the area. A cricket pitch was built by members of the 27th Australian Infantry Brigade in the same year while stationed at the camp. The cricket pitch has hosted games between local residents and serving personnel on

ANZAC Day , image = Dawn service gnangarra 03.jpg , caption = Anzac Day Dawn Service at Kings Park, Western Australia, 25 April 2009, 94th anniversary. , observedby = Australia Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Cook Islands New ...

many times since the war, and is now heritage listed. Noonamah and surrounding areas were bombed by the Japanese extensively throughout 1942. The

was only able to be sustained after the war by the activities of the Frances. Creek Iron Ore Mine. The Railway eventually closed in 1976 due to the insistence of the then Whitlam Federal Government that the Mine paid commercial rates to use the Railway. The Mine then closed, and, with it, the Railway. The Adelaide-Darwin Railway opened in 2004, but on a new alignment that bypasses Noonamah.

Today

Modern Noonamah is mostly a rural area with much of the surrounding land being used for agriculture. There is a hotel, petrol station and general store (which also serves as the Post Office RV) located on the

Stuart Highway Stuart Highway is a major Australia, Australian highway. It runs from Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin, in the Northern Territory, via Tennant Creek and Alice Springs, to Port Augusta in South Australia; a distance of . Its northern and sou ...

south of the Elizabeth River bridge. North of the river is the Darwin Crocodile Farm, a commercial farm with over 7000 American alligators and native crocodiles. The farm is currently closed to the public. A number of trucking companies have facilities in the suburb for loading and transporting livestock. There are no schools in the suburb. The nearest primary school is to the north in Bees Creek, while middle school and high school students in years 7 to 12 can travel to Taminmin High School in nearby

Humpty Doo Humpty Doo is a small town in Australia's Northern Territory, situated just south of the Arnhem Highway, approximately 40 km from Darwin. At the , Humpty Doo had a population of 4,380 people. Its local government area is Litchfield Munici ...

Public transport

The

Northern Territory Government The Government of the Northern Territory of Australia, also referred to as the Northern Territory Government, is the Australian territorial democratic administrative authority of the Northern Territory. The Government of Northern Territory wa ...

provides limited bus services between Noonamah and

Palmerston Palmerston may refer to: People * Christie Palmerston (c. 1851–1897), Australian explorer * Several prominent people have borne the title of Viscount Palmerston ** Henry Temple, 1st Viscount Palmerston (c. 1673–1757), Irish nobleman an ...

Monday - Saturday. Bus routes 440 and 445 pass through the suburb. These services are infrequent, generally running twice a day. In January 2012,

park and ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuting, commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, Rail t ...

facilities opened in nearby Coolalinga and

, providing a better service for commuters travelling from the rural area to Darwin. On the day of the , only 1.8% of employed people travelled to work on public transport and 74.1% by car (either as driver or as passenger).

Events

The National Rodeo Council of Australia schedules many events in Noonamah throughout the year. The Noonamah Tavern Rodeo

References

External links

{{Litchfield Municipality Suburbs and Towns Suburbs of Darwin, Northern Territory