Cookernup is a town in the

South West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

of Western Australia near the

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 Highway 1 network for most of its length. It is about long. Route description Perth to Bunbury ...

, between Waroona and

Harvey Harvey, Harveys or Harvey's may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Harvey'' (play), a 1944 play by Mary Chase about a man befriended by an invisible anthropomorphic rabbit * Harvey Awards ("Harveys"), one of the most important awards ...

History

In 1835

Stephen Henty Stephen George Henty (3 November 1811 – 18 December 1872) was a farmer and politician in colonial Victoria, a member of the Victorian Legislative Council. Henty was born in West Tarring, Sussex, England, the son of Thomas Henty (1775–1839) an ...

and

Thomas Peel Thomas Peel (1793 – 22 December 1865)Alexandra Hasluck,, ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Vol. 2, MUP, 1967, pp 320-322. retrieved 2009-11-04 organised and lead a consortium of the first British settlers to Western Australia. He was ...

were the first Europeans to visit the area, being guided through the reaches of the

Harvey River The Harvey River is a river in Western Australia and is the southernmost of the three major waterways which drain into the Peel-Harvey Estuary, with its delta in the southern extreme of the Harvey Estuary. It is about 90 km in length, risi ...

by local

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

people. Cookernup's name derives from an Aboriginal 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 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. The population of the town was 59 (35 males and 24 females) in 1898.

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 buffer zone around the

Alcoa Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for Aluminum Company of America) is a Pittsburgh-based industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primary ...

Wagerup alumina refinery was doubled by the

Health Department A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their ow ...

following the approval of a $1.5 billion expansion to the refinery. In August 2008, Alcoa had bought over 40 local properties. As of 2015, Alcoa's purchases made little to no impact to Cookernup, with the majority of properties being purchased in nearby Yarloop. Cookernup has experienced steady growth in recent years, with several houses being built a year. Cookernup has a fire brigade, town hall, general store, large exercise area and playground. Nearby

Logue Brook Dam The Logue Brook Dam is a dam located in the south-west of Western Australia in the Darling Scarp near the town of Yarloop, Western Australia, Yarloop. The impoundment, a reservoir (water), reservoir, is known as Lake Brockman. It was opened b ...

, to the east and set in

jarrah ''Eucalyptus marginata'', commonly known as jarrah, djarraly in Noongar language and historically as Swan River mahogany, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a tree with roug ...

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. Warawarrup is a small village to the south that is 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 Australind is a town in Western Australia, located 12 km north-east of Bunbury's central business district. Its local government area is the Shire of Harvey. At the 2016 census, Australind had a population of 14,539. History Prior to Eur ...

'' passenger train service from

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

to Bunbury.

References

External links

Map of Cookernup
(Shire of Harvey) {{authority control Towns in Western Australia Shire of Harvey Bushfire affected towns in Western Australia