Cookernup, Western Australia
Encyclopedia
Cookernup is a town located in the South West of Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

 just off the South Western Highway
South Western Highway
South Western Highway is a highway in the South West region of Western Australia connecting Perth's southeast with Walpole. It is a part of the National Highway 1 network for most of its length...

, between Waroona
Waroona, Western Australia
Waroona is a town located in the Peel region of Western Australia along the South Western Highway, between Pinjarra and Harvey. The town is the seat of the Shire of Waroona. At the 2006 census, Waroona had a population of 1,864.-History:...

 and Harvey
Harvey, Western Australia
Harvey is a town located in the South West of Western Australia along the South Western Highway, 140 km south of Perth, between Pinjarra and Bunbury...

.

History

In 1835, Stephen Henty and Thomas Peel were the first Europeans to visit the area, being guided through the reaches of the Harvey River by local Aboriginal people.

Cookernup's name derives from an Aboriginal
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....

 name meaning "the place of the swamp hen" (cooki). The first settler, Joseph Logue, came to the area in 1852 with his extended family in search of good farming land, acquiring a 9,000 ha
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...

 grant which he called Kookernup. He later settled on the north bank of a nearby brook, now called Logue Brook.

The area was important in the milling and transport of local timber, with a railway reserve being constructed for timber stacking. In the early 1890s, Cookernup had a much greater population than Harvey, and had a school and telegraph office several years earlier.

Present day

Cookernup is a small agricultural town with services offered from nearby Harvey, and there have been applications for subdivision in the area. However, a 5 km buffer zone around the Alcoa
Alcoa
Alcoa Inc. is the world's third largest producer of aluminum, behind Rio Tinto Alcan and Rusal. From its operational headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Alcoa conducts operations in 31 countries...

 Wagerup
Wagerup, Western Australia
Wagerup is a town located in the Peel region of Western Australia just off the South Western Highway, between Waroona and Harvey.-History:...

 alumina refinery was doubled by the Health Department following the approval of a $1.5 billion expansion to the refinery. This may result in the closure of the town and compensation and relocation of its residents. By August 2008, Alcoa had bought over 40 local properties..

Nearby Logue Brook Dam (6 km to the east), set in jarrah forests on the western boundary of the Murray State Forests, has a number of camping, accommodation and recreational facilities, and offers bushwalking, horse-riding, waterskiing, canoeing and ropes courses.

Warrawarrup (5 km to the south) is a small village and home to the Harvey Trotting Track. It was originally planned as a growth area, but the growth failed to eventuate.

Transport

The town serves as a stop on the Australind
Transwa Australind
The Transwa Australind is a diesel railcar train operated by Transwa that runs between Perth, Western Australia, and the south-west city of Bunbury on the South Western Railway . The Australind fleet consists of three powered railcars ADP101, ADP102 and ADP103, with two non-driving trailers ADQ121...

 passenger train from Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

 to Bunbury
Bunbury, Western Australia
The port city of Bunbury is the third largest city in Western Australia after the State Capital Perth and Mandurah. It is situated south of Perth's central business district...

.

External links

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