Kojonup

Kojonup is a town 256 km south-east of Perth, Western Australia along Albany Highway. The name Kojonup is believed to refer to the "Kodja" or stone axe made by Indigenous Australians, from the local stone.HistoryThe Noongar people are the traditional owners and inhabitants of Kojonup. Specifically, the Noongar people of Kojonup today are descendants of the Kaneang tribe. Historically the Noongar people drank from the local freshwater spring and hunted game with the traditional Noongar ‘kodj’, or stone axe. Both Kojonup and The Kodja Place are named after the historically significant implement.The first European in the area was surveyor Alfred Hillman who arrived in 1837 and had been guided to freshwater spring by the Noongar people. The site was an important staging place on the road to Albany, and in 1837 a military post was established there for the protection of travellers and the mail. By 1845 this outpost had grown to support a military barracks, built on the site of the freshwater spring. Today, the barracks still stands on its original site and houses the Kojonup Pioneer Museum. The barracks is one of the oldest buildings in Western Australia. The first farms in Kojonup were set up by soldiers with settlement grants. The appointment in 1865 of a mounted Police Constable marked the phasing out of the military presence at Kojonup. By the late 1860s the military had left and the Barracks became a focus for community gatherings, much as it is today. The town's first Police Station was built in 1869 and the first hotel licence was granted in 1868.