Noonamah

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 at the site of present-day Noonamah, to support the Strauss Airfield 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 many times since the war, and is now heritage listed. Noonamah and surrounding areas were bombed by the Japanese extensively throughout 1942.

The North Australia Railway was largely sustained after the war by the activities of the Frances Creek Iron Ore Mine. Several factors during the 1970s influenced the closure of the railway, including increased maintenance costs to support heavier trains, damage from Cyclone Tracy in 1974 and high costs of rail transport. The mine had ceased operations by the beginning of 1975 and the railway closed soon after in 1976. 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 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.

Public transport

The Northern Territory Government provides limited bus services between Noonamah and Palmerston 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 facilities opened in nearby Coolalinga and Humpty Doo, 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

Climate

Noonamah has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen: Aw) with a wet season from November to April and a dry season from May to October. Extreme temperatures ranged from 41.6 C on 20 October 2019 to 6.1 C on 25 June 2023. The wettest recorded day was 28 January 2018 with 228.4 mm of rainfall.

|Jan record high C = 38.9 |Feb record high C = 37.5 |Mar record high C = 37.2 |Apr record high C = 37.6 |May record high C = 36.8 |Jun record high C = 35.9 |Jul record high C = 36.7 |Aug record high C = 38.6 |Sep record high C = 39.7 |Oct record high C = 41.6 |Nov record high C = 39.8 |Dec record high C = 39.8 |Jan record low C = 20.4 |Feb record low C = 20.9 |Mar record low C = 18.0 |Apr record low C = 14.8 |May record low C = 11.6 |Jun record low C = 6.5 |Jul record low C = 6.1 |Aug record low C = 8.0 |Sep record low C = 11.5 |Oct record low C = 19.1 |Nov record low C = 20.3 |Dec record low C = 21.3

References

References

1. {{Census 2016 AUS
2. (February 2005). "Noonamah". Northern Territory Government.
3. "Litchfield Municipality Localities". Northern Territory Government.
4. [http://www.nt.gov.au/lands/lis/placenames/origins/greaterdarwin.shtml#n Noonamah (Locality)] {{webarchive. link. (2011-06-29)
5. "Northern Territory Government - Noonamah WWII Sites Declared Heritage".
6. Territory Iron Limited. "Public Environmental Report - Francis Creek Precinct". [[Northern Territory Government]].
7. (23 May 2022). "Darwin and Palmerston public bus timetables and maps".
8. {{Census 2011 AUS
9. "National Rodeo Council of Australia".
10. "Noonamah Tavern Rodeo".
11. "Climate classification maps: Köppen - all classes". [[Bureau of Meteorology]].
12. "Noonamah Airstrip Climate (2013-2025)". [[Australian Community Media]].