Adelaide House

More About Adelaide House

Now under the protection of the National Trust, Adelaide House is one of Alice Springs oldest remaining buildings. In Todd Mall, next to the John Flynn Memorial Church, this impressive building was designed by Flynn in 1916-17 and opened as a hospital-hostel in 1926. The design was amended three times during the seven year construction period although the basic concept remains the same.
The idea for the centre came from Sister Jean Findlayson, who came to Alice Springs in 1915 as a representative of the Australian Inland Mission, established in 1912 to provide services in outback areas. She was the first nursing sister in Central Australia and initially operated from a small desert oak building at the corner of Wills terrace and Hartley Street. Until this small surgery was set up patients had to travel hundreds of kilometres to Oodnadatta by wagon to have their ailments attended to.
The design of the building shows ingenuity and a good knowledge of local conditions. Wide verandahs all round provide shade, and the raised roof over the central area allows hot air from the building to escape. This was replaced by cool air drawn from the cellar which passed along a stone passageway hung with wet hessian to cool it, through a series of ducted walls and vents. and into the main building. The 46cm (18 inch) thick walls restricted heating and cooling of the building to a minimum in the extremes of Central Australian temperatures.
Adelaide House was the only medical centre in Central Australia until the opening of the hospital in 1939 and, at its peak, catered for a population of 950 people.
Since 1939 it has been used variously as a hostel, as accommodation for nurses during the war, a manse for the Presbyterian Church, a meeting place for church groups and, more recently, a haven for senior citizens. It was restored in 1983 and is now a museum of local history.
A radio room at the back of the building is where the first test radio transmission was received from Hermannsburg by Maurie Fuss in November, 1926, when Flynn and Traeger were experimenting with radio for the Flying Doctor Service. The museum has some fine displays including the story of the Australian Inland Mission, early journals, maps and publications of the Reverend John Flynn, radio equipment built by Traeger, diagrams of the building and its unique concept, and an extensive collection of historic photographs.
Adelaide House is open for inspection from 10am until 4pm, Mon. to Fri., and from 10am until 12 noon Saturdays (March to November).
Adult $3.50 Child $2.20. Phone: 8952 1856