Tennant Creek (pop. 3500) is the only place of any size except Katherine on the 1500km stretch between Alice Springs and Darwin.
In 1860 John McDouall Stuart named the river 10km north of the present town after the South Australian cattle-owner John Tennant. In 1872 a repeater station on the Overland Telegraph Line was established here, and
this was followed by a few houses. Local people like to tell another story about the origin of the town. It is said to have been founded when a camel caravan broke down on the site of the town. The real reason for the development of the town, however, is likely to have been the discovery of gold here in 1932. Tennant Creek was thus the scene of Australia's last gold rush. After the yield of the gold workings declined, large deposits of copper were found, as well as silver and bismuth; there is also still some gold-working.
In Schmidt is the Museum of the National Trust, housed in a former military hospital.
The Roman Catholic church in Windley Street, originally built in Pine Creek in 1904, was taken down in 1935, transported to Tennant Creek and rebuilt.
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