History of Kununurra

The town, which lies on the banks of Lake Kununurra , was built as a result of the development of the Ord River Irrigation Scheme. Originally the town was to be named Cununarra but due to similarities of place names in other States the spelling was changed to Kununurra. The township of Kununurra was gazetted in 1960 and is the youngest town in the East Kimberley.

In 1879, Alexander Forrest , the brother of Sir John Forrest, was the first recorded white man to have explored the region and he was to give it the name, Kimberley. Alexander Forrest became the land agent for the region, leasing over 51 million acres (21 million hectare) in 1883.

 

The first settler to the area was Irish born Patrick (Patsy) Durack in 1882. Patsy travelled 3,000 miles from Queensland to the Kimberley region with 7250 head of cattle and 200 horses to stock his Argyle and Ivanhoe stations.

This little trek took about three years to complete. The Durack family established the Lissadell, Argyle, Rosewood and Ivanhoe Cattle Stations.

From its humble beginnings as a small settlement that catered for the workers employed for the construction of the Diversion Dam, Kununurra is a vibrant centre that offers modern services, shopping facilities, an intensive agriculture, mining and tourism sector, a host of community activities and a lifestyle that suits the 6000 people that live here. The town is believed to have the youngest average age of any in Australia.

Although modern in its structure, Kununurra retains a lot of its laid back feel and it is this quality that brings many people to town, either to settle here or just to visit.