Oodnadatta

Oodnadatta is a small town hidden in the Desert of South Australia

Discovery
John McDouall Stuart chartered the area around 1859, It was mapped as part of the Overland Telegraph recordings. In those days, Oodnadatta was just called, Yellow Waterhole. By the 1880s, the land around Oodnadatta was used by cameleers from Afghanistan, these people settled in Oodnadatta and the nearby township of Maree

Railways of the 20th Century
In the 1890s, The Great Northern Railway gained a terminal in Oodnadatta. This was until 1929 when it re-routed to Alice Springs. The one train that gained popularity passing through Oodnadatta was the Ghan. The railway through Oodnadatta closed in 1981 and made way for one that bypassed Oodnadatta.

World War II
The Busiest era in the town was World War II. The Australian Army and Air Force set up facilities here to service Trains and Fighter Aircraft that were making their way to Darwin. Following the railway closure in 1981, the town became open to Indigenous Australians who moved in as the train workers left. The Historic Oodnadatta Railway Station and Algebuckina Bridge are both on the Heritage Register for South Australia

Trivia

 * The Name Oodnadatta has been used to name a crater on Mars