These cameleers, who were main­ly from Peshawar and Afghanistan, were orig­i­nal­ly brought out under con­tract around 1900 and paid two pound per month. Two date palms marked the entrance to the first mosque and thriv­ing fruit and veg­etable gar­dens were also estab­lished. This mosque was destroyed dur­ing mil­i­tary deploy­ments in WWII. In Octo­ber 1993 a new Islam­ic Cen­tre called the Afghan Mosque was opened in Lyn­davale Dri­ve. This art­work was com­mis­sioned by Alice Springs Town Council.