NTPlanned settlement
Palmerston
Darwin’s satellite city, carrying Darwin’s old name.
1981Town of Palmerston constituted
WHAT STARTED IT
Palmerston was planned as a satellite town about 20 km from the centre of Darwin, where the Northern Territory Government could release whole suburbs of land to private developers through its Palmerston Development Authority.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
The site was constituted as the Town of Palmerston in May 1981, reviving the name used at Escape Cliffs in 1864 and for Darwin itself until 1911. The Palmerston Development Authority offered suburbs to developers in turn, and by 1983 houses were going up in Gray and Driver beside a neighbourhood centre, school and fire station.
TURNING POINTS
1981The Town of Palmerston is constituted as a new town in the Northern Territory Government Gazette of 1 May.
1983About 400 house lots are ready in the first suburbs, Gray and Driver, and developers are invited to build Moulden.
2000The Palmerston Town Council becomes the City of Palmerston.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A fast-growing city of about 37,000 people in 2021, centred on the Palmerston CBD around Goyder Square. It became the City of Palmerston in 2000.