Newcastle Waters was named by the explorer, John McDouall Stuart in 1861. He named it after the Duke of Newcastle. The waterhole Stuart discovered is now called the Longreach Hole. When the Australian Overland Telegraph Line was built, a relay station was built at Newcastle Waters in 1870. The cattle station was set up in 1883. In 1930 the government set aside an area of the station for a town site. It was an important stop for moving cattle herds through the Northern Territory. However in the 1960's as cattle were moved by trucks, the town was abandoned. The buildings in the town are now in poor condition.