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History of country town names - J


The following information is a summary of the origins for towns names in rural Western Australia. Please select the first letter of the town you wish to see.
Please note: The names of all rural towns are being added progressively to the database.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

JACKSON

Latitude 30° 12' S Longitude 119° 07' E

Jackson is an abandoned townsite in the Yilgarn goldfield, located about 115 km north north east of Southern Cross. It was gazetted in 1897, following a request for residential land here in 1896. Although it was locally known as Mount Jackson, deriving that name from the nearby hill named by the explorer Ernest Giles in 1875, it has been officially Jackson since 1897. Like many goldfields towns it was very temporary, quickly being occupied with buildings of hessian, wood and iron, and just as quickly abandoned. It boomed in 1896, and is recorded as abandoned by 1917.


JARDEE

Latitude 34° 17' S Longitude 116° 07' E

The townsite of Jardee is located in the south west region, 5 km south south west of Manjimup. The Government established a railway siding named Jardanup here in 1912, following the completion of the Bridgetown-Wilgarup railway in 1911. Jardanup was the terminus of the railway, and serviced the No. 1 State Saw Mill, built here in 1912. In 1925 the railway siding name was changed to Jardee because of confusion with Dardanup, and when the government gazetted a townsite here in 1927, it was also named Jardee. The name was proposed by the Warren Roads Board, and appears to be a made up name, derived from the Aboriginal name Jardanup, and Deeside, the name of a historic property in the district.  


JARRAHDALE

Latitude 32° 20' S Longitude 116° 04' E

The townsite of Jarrahdale is located in the Darling Range, 50 km south east of Perth. Jarrahdale is a descriptive name, derived from the town's situation in some of Western Australia's best Jarrah forest. The place came about as a result of the granting of timber concessions here in 1872. The Jarrahdale Timber Company constructed a railway for the transport of timber from Jarrahdale through Mundijong to Rockingham. By the turn of the century Jarrahdale was a thriving community, and the government decided to declare a townsite. This took some time to declare, due to Jarrahdale being a mainly private town at the time, and the townsite was not gazetted until 1913.


JARRAHWOOD

Latitude 33° 48' S Longitude 15° 40' E

The townsite of Jarrahwood is located in the south west, 36 km south east of Busselton. The town is located in an area of Jarrah forest which was subjected to heavy cutting in the last century. The principal company operating in the area of the townsite was the Jarrah Wood and Sawmills Company Limited, and is from this name that the townsite name is derived. The company also ran a private railway from Jarrahwood to Wonnerup, and this was purchased by the government in 1906. The townsite was gazetted in 1932.


JENNACUBBINE

Latitude 31° 26' S Longitude 116° 43' E

The townsite of Jennacubbine is located in the eastern agricultural area, about midway between the towns of Northam and Goomalling. It was first a siding on the Northam-Goomalling railway line opened in June 1902, and was not declared a townsite until 1966. It derives its name from an Aboriginal well, first recorded as Jenacubine Well by the explorer A C Gregory in 1848. It was recorded as Jenacubbine in 1853, and has been spelt with the current spelling since 1889. Some records advise the meaning of this name is "salt water".


JERDACUTTUP

Latitude 33° 43' S Longitude 120° 28' E

Jerdacuttup is a townsite near the south coast between Ravensthorpe and Esperance. It was gazetted in 1966, and was developed following the governments opening up of land for agricultural purposes in this area in the 1960s. Jerdacuttup derives its name from the Jerdacuttup River located about 16 km to the west. This Aboriginal name was first recorded with this spelling by surveyor C D Price in 1875/76, although he also uses the spelling Jerdacat and Verdicat, and the explorer John Forrest (later Premier of Western Australia) recorded Jerticutup in 1870.


JERRAMUNGUP

Latitude 33° 57' S Longitude 118° 55' E

The townsite of Jerramungup is located in the great southern agricultural region, 454 km south east of Perth. It was gazetted in 1957, at a time when the Government was active in opening up land in the area for agricultural.
Jerramungup is an Aboriginal word said to mean "place of upstanding yate trees". The Yate tree is a variety of Eucalypt tree which is evergreen and grows to a height of 20m and a width of 4m. It has orange bud caps and greenish yellow flowers, and is common in the south west of WA. The name was first recorded by Surveyor General J S Roe in 1847, when carrying out exploration of the area. In his journal Roe stated "On passing over the first ridge on the following morning we were gladdened by the view of a large extent of good grassy country to the NE lightly timbered and at this time well watered by a river and its numerous branches known to the natives as Jeer-A-Mung-Up". Roe later named the same river near its mouth the Gairdner River, not realising they were the same, and this is the name now used for the river.

JINGALUP

Latitude 33° 58' S Longitude 117° 02' E

Jingalup is a townsite in the great southern agricultural region, just to the south west of Kojonup. The local farming community first requested a townsite to be declared here in 1918, the place being proposed to be named Mybrup. By 1922 a recreation ground and hall had been built, and the hall used as a school. The community were by then calling the place Jingalup, and this was the name used when the townsite was gazetted in 1924. The name Jingalup is an Aboriginal word, and appears to be a contraction of nearby Kodjingalup Well, first recorded by surveyor Gregory in 1846.


JITARNING

Latitude 32° 47' S Longitude 118° 00' E

Jitarning is a townsite in the Great Southern agricultural region, 277 km east south east of Perth. It was originally a station on the Yillimining to Kondinin railway , being one of the original stations on the line when it opened in 1915. The name was suggested by District Surveyor Marshall Fox in 1913, and is derived from Jitarning Soak, a nearby Aboriginal water source first recorded in 1873. Original spellings of the name were Geetaring and Geetarning, and there was a Geetarning Progress Association active as early as 1913, as this group requested the declaration of a townsite in that year. The townsite was gazetted in 1917.


JUBUK

Latitude 32° 21' S Longitude 117° 41' E

Jubuk is a townsite in the central agricultural region, located just to the west of Corrigin. When the railway line from Brookton to Corrigin was being planned in 1914, it was decided to establish a siding here named Munganalling and gazette a townsite. The line was opened in 1915, but when the government planned the townsite in 1917 the name Jubuk was nominated for both the siding and townsite. The correspondence does not reveal the source of the name. The townsite was gazetted in 1919.


JURIEN BAY 

Latitude 30° 18' S Longitude 115° 02' E

The townsite of Jurien Bay is located on Jurien Bay, 266 km north north west of Perth. The bay, from which the townsite derives its name was named on July 1st 1801 by the French expedition under Captain Baudin. The name honours Charles Marie, vicomte Jurien, 1763-1836, a French naval administrator. Early maritime history of Jurien Bay includes visits by Captain Philip Parker King in the brig "Bathurst" in 1822, Lt. William Preston in the hired cutter "Colonist" in 1830 and J W Gregory in the schooner "Thetis" in 1847-8. The bay was first surveyed by James Harding, Harbour Master of Fremantle, in 1865, and a more extensive survey was made by Staff Commander W E Archdeacon R.N. in 1875.

The first evidence of interest in development at Jurien Bay was when a reserve for Shipping and Landing was declared here in 1887. A church site reserve for the Church of England was gazetted in 1930, and a church erected in late 1931. The church was demolished by the Army in early 1942 because it was of landmark value (of possible aid to a Japanese landing!). Continued use of the area by campers and fishermen led to the Government gazetting a townsite in 1956. The townsite was originally named Jurien Bay, but was changed to Jurien in 1959. In 1999 it was changed back to Jurien Bay, as this had been long regarded as the locally accepted name of the place.

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