Editing Humpty Doo (section)

==History==
The [[Djerimanga]] (also known as Wulna) people are recognised as the [[traditional owners]] and first inhabitants of an area, from the present day site of Humpty Doo east into the [[Adelaide River]] wetlands. Their way of life remained unchanged until the first contact with European explorers in the 19th century, most likely during the 1864 expedition to explore the areas surrounding the Adelaide River, led by [[Boyle Travers Finniss]].{{cn|date=April 2022}}

In September 1869, [[Surveyor General of South Australia]], [[George Goyder]], completed work to divide the hinterland surrounding the present day Litchfield Shire into {{convert|10|sqmi||adj=on}} parcels. These parcels were subsequently divided into smaller allotments, and made available to settlers as pastoral leases and freehold titles.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.litchfield.nt.gov.au/index.php?page=goyder-s-hundreds |title=Litchfield Council - Goyder's Hundreds |publisher=Litchfield.nt.gov.au |access-date=2012-06-17}}</ref>

Following the discovery of gold near [[Pine Creek, Northern Territory|Pine Creek]] during the 1880s, the subsequent influx of Chinese miners to the [[Northern Territory]] led to a high demand for food crops such as [[rice]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Humpty Doo Rice Trail |url=https://www.ricetrail.com.au/ |access-date=2024-04-09 |website=www.ricetrail.com.au}}</ref> Rice planted on the floodplains near Humpty Doo was used to meet this demand, with some success.<ref name=SMH>[http://www.smh.com.au/news/northern-territory/humpty-doo/2005/02/17/1108500201628.html "Humpty Doo"],"[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]", Sydney, 8 February 2004</ref> Experiments with other tropical crops, including [[sugar cane]], [[coffea|coffee]] and [[natural rubber|rubber]], were attempted, most of these planted in the vicinity of [[Beatrice Hill, Northern Territory|Beatrice Hill]] to the east of the present day town.{{cn|date=April 2022}} Experiments were made with livestock too and it was hoped that the banks of the Adelaide River could be developed to include loading facilities for live cattle export.{{cn|date=April 2022}}

By 1887, plantations on the floodplains had been abandoned due to the financial difficulties of the land owners. Despite this, rubber trees and coffee bushes showed particular potential. A single harvest of 10 tons of coffee beans was exported to [[Melbourne, Victoria|Melbourne]] during the short lived experiment.<ref name=agri>Litchfield Council [http://www.litchfield.nt.gov.au/index.php?page=agriculture-at-beatrice-hill "Agriculture at Beatrice Hill"]</ref>

In 1910, the name "Umpity Doo" first appeared, to describe buildings and improvements on a survey plan of Agricultural Lease No. 28, held by Oscar Herbert. Herbert died in 1974 at nearby [[Koolpinyah Station]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ntlis.nt.gov.au/placenames/view.jsp?id=2047|title=Place Names Register|website=www.ntlis.nt.gov.au}}</ref>

In 1954, after some experimentation by [[CSIRO]] and based on previous successful rice crops, a joint Australia-[[United States|U.S.]] company called Territory Rice Ltd. was formed and established the [[Humpty Doo Rice Project]], with a plan to irrigate the sub-coastal plain of the Adelaide River in order to commercially produce rice. The rice project was 20&nbsp;km east of the present town, on part of the Humpty Doo Station where the name "Humpty Doo" was first used. The plan was a complete failure due to several factors: an invasion of geese, soil that was too [[soil salinity|saline]], and an insufficient amount of drainage, all combined with poor management.<ref name=age>{{cite web|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/Northern-Territory/Humpty-Doo/2005/02/17/1108500201628.html |title=Travel article in the Age |publisher=Theage.com.au |date= 8 February 2004|access-date=2012-06-17}}</ref> The company gave up the land to the government in 1962. The [[irrigation]] [[dam]], called [[Fogg Dam Conservation Reserve|Fogg Dam]], still exists and is a good site for bird watching.

Local resident, Neville Skewes, opened a small store on Mount Bundey Road (now the Arnhem Highway) in 1967. At this time, there was very little development, with most of the surrounding area being bushland. On 11 September 1971, after being granted a liquor licence, Skewes and his wife Helen opened the Humpty Doo Hotel-Motel. The opening of the Hotel coincided with further improvements to the road east to [[Kakadu National Park|Kakadu]] and [[Arnhem Land]], and encouraged further urbanisation of the area around Humpty Doo.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.litchfield.nt.gov.au/index.php?page=humpty-doo-hotel |title=Litchfield Council - Humpty Doo Hotel |publisher=Litchfield.nt.gov.au |date=1971-09-11 |access-date=2012-06-17}}</ref>

In 1982, the [[Royal Australian Navy]] opened the Humpty Doo Transmitting Station. This replaced a facility at [[Coonawarra, Northern Territory|Coonawarra East]] that was destroyed by [[Cyclone Tracy]] in December 1974. The station supports the naval base {{HMAS|Coonawarra}}, located in Darwin.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.navy.gov.au/establishments/hmas-coonawarra |title=HMAS Coonawarra - Royal Australian Navy |publisher=Navy.gov.au |access-date=2012-06-17}}</ref>

On 21 July 2007, the town played host to the first of the 'Triple J goes AWOL' concerts, sponsored and organised by the national youth radio station [[Triple J]].