Mount Barker, Western Australia
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Mount Barker Western Australia |
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Mount Barker Hill with TV tower in background
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 Mount Barker
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| Coordinates | 34°37′48″S 117°40′01″E / 34.63000°S 117.66694°ECoordinates: 34°37′48″S 117°40′01″E / 34.63000°S 117.66694°E | ||||||
| Population | 2,761 (2011 census) | ||||||
| Established | 1892 | ||||||
| Postcode(s) | 6324 | ||||||
| Elevation | 300 m (984 ft) | ||||||
| Location | |||||||
| LGA(s) | Shire of Plantagenet | ||||||
| State electorate(s) | Blackwood-Stirling | ||||||
| Federal Division(s) | O'Connor | ||||||
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Mount Barker is a town on the Albany Highway and is the administrative centre of the Shire of Plantagenet in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. At the 2011 census, Mount Barker had a population of 2,761.
The town was named after the nearby hill, which in turn was named in 1829 by Thomas Braidwood Wilson in honour of Captain Collet Barker, who died two years later in South Australia.
Mount Barker is situated on Albany Highway 363 kilometres (226 mi) south-east of Perth and 50 kilometres (31 mi) north of the city of Albany. The coastal town of Denmark is around 55 kilometres (34 mi) by road to the south-west via the Denmark Mount Barker Road (locally referred to as "Denbarker Road"). The timber town of Manjimup is 160 kilometres (99 mi) west of Mount Barker, via Muir Highway. The Hay River, which flows into Wilson Inlet at Denmark, begins its journey just west of Mount Barker.
Prior to European settlement, small groups of Aboriginal people, called the Bibbulmun (a clan of the Noongar) People, inhabited the area. These were a nomadic people who followed seasonal food supplies. The Aboriginal name for Mount Barker Hill is 'Pwakkenbak'.
In December 1829, Mount Barker was named after Captain Collet Barker, commandant of the garrison at King George Sound, by naval ship's surgeon Thomas Braidwood Wilson. Wilson explored the area in company with the Noongar Mokare from King George Sound, John Kent (officer in charge of the Commissariat at Frederick Town, King George Sound), two convicts and Private William Gough of the 39th Regiment, while his ship the Governor Phillip was being repaired.
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