It is based on the site of the abandoned Town of Southport,[5] a thriving river port during the Pine Creek gold rush of the 1870s.

During an expedition beginning in 1868 led by the Surveyor General of South Australia, George Goyder,[6] four towns were surveyed in 1870 – Daly, Palmerston, (now Darwin), Southport and Virginia.

[8] The river trade to Darwin was served by a government jetty (initially only useful when the tide was at its highest)[9] with a privately built landing alongside.

[8] For around twenty years Southport was a thriving town serving road and river traffic between Port Darwin and the flourishing gold mines in the Pine Creek area.

The advanced radar was useful during stormy conditions common in the area during summer months and was able to locate and guide home a number of lost allied aircraft in the latter stages of the war.

In addition to two large radar towers and a communications radio mast, the site had a generator for electrical power, mess and accommodation facilities.

[20] Interest in the township and the region was renewed in the late 20th century with the expansion of population in the greater Darwin area and the desire of many for a rural lifestyle.