The name Daly Waters was given to a series of natural springs by
John McDouall Stuart during his third attempt to cross Australia from south to north, in 1861–62. Stuart named the springs after the new
Governor of South Australia,
Sir Dominick Daly. Stuart's first attempt, in 1860, had reached
Tennant Creek. The second, in early 1861, pushed further north but again Stuart turned back. The third journey left
Adelaide in October 1861 and reached Daly Waters on 28 May. The party had been pushing through difficult lancewood scrub and harsh terrain at a little over a kilometre a day. This journey was successful, reaching the north coast near modern
Darwin on 24 July 1862. Stuart's Tree has an 'S' carved into it by
Stuart during his journey. The
Overland Telegraph Line reached Daly Waters from the north in June 1872 and for two months a 'pony express' carried messages the 421 km to Tennant Creek via
Renner Springs.
Daly Waters Airfield was a refuelling stop for the
London to Melbourne air race of 1919, a refuelling stop for early
Qantas flights to
Singapore, a
World War II Airforce base, including a
field hospital, and more recently an operational base for joint military manoeuvres. Although the aerodrome was closed to commercial traffic in 1969, the original Qantas hangar still stands, housing exhibits of photographs and equipment from the area's aviation past. The
traditional owners of the area became the fourth Indigenous group in the Northern Territory to gain
native title over both the townsite and ten surrounding pastoral leases covering an area of . The
Federal Court of Australia had a special ceremonial sitting on nearby
Newcastle Waters Station to commemorate the occasion. ==Trivia==