Ti Tree

History

The Anmatyerre name for the area close to Ti-Tree township is Aleyaw but no one seems to know how or where the name Ti-Tree or Tea Tree came from. One of the first features in the area to be named was Tea Tree Well No. 3 (still to be seen on the western side of the highway just south of the township) which was developed during the construction of the Overland Telegraph Line. The remains of Tea Tree Well No. 2 can be found at the southern end of the air strip. In 1888 an area of about 64 km incorporating the well was formally set aside as the Tea Tree Telegraph Reserve and in 1919 W. J. 'Bill' Heffernan was granted a lease to a parcel of land which he called Tea Tree Station. The current station covers an area of 3584 km2. Since the construction of the Overland Telegraph Line, Tea Tree Well had become known for its good supply of sweet water but this was not enough to make Heffernan's labours financially rewarding. By 1935 the run was poorly improved with primitive buildings and no horse or bullock paddocks. Heffernan died in Alice Springs in 1969 and the station was carried on by his widow. In 1975, Ian Dahlenburg took up of the station and established Dahlenburg Horticultural Enterprise which now grows grapes and watermelons on Ti-Tree Farm. In 1976, Tea Tree Station was sold to the Aboriginal Land Fund Commission and became a subject of a land claim on behalf of the local Aboriginal people. Much of the area surrounding Ti Tree township is now within the bounds of the Ahakeye Land Trust, an Aboriginal Freehold Lease. In 1980, the local community petitioned the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly to change the spelling from "Tea Tree" to "Ti-Tree". On 15 May 1981, the area of the town was gazetted and on 22 April 1983, its name was…

Most-observed species

• Magpie-lark

  Grallina cyanoleuca (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  23
• Zebra Finch

  Taeniopygia guttata (Vieillot, 1817) · Aves
  22
• Black Kite

  Milvus migrans (Boddaert, 1783) · Aves
  22
• Galah

  Eolophus roseicapilla (Vieillot, 1817) · Aves
  19
• Diamond Dove

  Geopelia cuneata (Latham, 1801) · Aves
  19
• Budgerigar

  Melopsittacus undulatus (Shaw, 1805) · Aves
  18
• Whistling Kite

  Haliastur sphenurus (Vieillot, 1818) · Aves
  18
• Little Crow

  Corvus bennetti North, 1901 · Aves
  18

Most recent

• M 3.2 — 2004-01-23
  188 km NW of Larapinta, Australia