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Mandurah is a coastal city in the Australian state of Western Australia, situated approximately south of the state capital, Perth. It is the state's second most populous city, with a population of approximately 117,000. Mandurah's central business district is located on the Mandurah Estuary, which is an outlet for the Peel Inlet and Harvey Estuary. The city's name is derived from the Noongar word mandjar, meaning "meeting place" or "trading place". A townsite for Mandurah was laid out in 1831, two years after the establishment of the Swan River Colony, but attracted few residents, and until the post-war boom of the 1950s and 1960s it was little more than a small fishing village. In subsequent years, Mandurah's reputation for boating and fishing attracted many retirees, including to the canal developments in the city's south. Along with four other local government areas (Boddington, Murray, Serpentine-Jarrahdale, and Waroona), the City of Mandurah is included in the wider Peel region. Mandurah is sometimes grouped together with Perth for statistical purposes, especially since the extension of the Kwinana Freeway and the completion of the Mandurah railway line in the late 2000s. The two cities now form a conurbation along the Indian Ocean coastline, although the Perth metropolitan area officially ends at Singleton. [edit] History
The Noongar (or Bibbulmun) people, who inhabited the southwest of Western Australia, named the area Mandjar ("meeting place"), which became the present day name "Mandurah". In December 1829, Thomas Peel arrived in Western Australia from the United Kingdom with workmen, equipment and stores on the ship . He had financed the trip in exchange for a grant of land in the Swan River Colony. A term of the grant was that he arrive no later than 1 November 1829, thus his original land grant was forfeited. Undaunted, Peel built a small settlement named Clarence south of the Swan River Colony at what is known today as Woodman Point. Facing many problems with the settlement and his own ill-health, Peel led the remaining Clarence settlers to the area known today as Mandurah. Soon after, other settlers also took up land in Mandurah including the families Hall (whose cottage at Halls Head is one of the region's most notable heritage places), Tuckey and Eacott. The census of 1837 records only 12 settlers at Mandurah, probably representing only 3 households. Thomas Peel died in 1865 but Mandurah continued to grow, albeit very slowly, over the years leading to the 20th century. Fish were abundant, and in 1870 a fish cannery was established at Mandurah. Canning factories sustained the preservation of produce from local fishing and fruit industries. A railway line between Perth and Pinjarra was opened in 1893, which allowed Mandurah to emerge as a tourism hub in the region.[1] The population of the town was 160 (95 males and 65 females) in 1898. Mandurah was administered under the Murray Road Board until 1949, when the Mandurah Road Board was established. However, dissension within the board during the 1950s saw it suspended and Commissioner Richard Rushton oversaw the town's affairs. On 26 April 1960, the Mandurah Road Board was reconstituted, and on 1 July 1961, in accordance with the Local Government Act 1960, the Shire of Mandurah was founded. Industrial development at Kwinana (1955), a mining boom in nearby Jarrahdale (1963) and Wagerup (1984), with the associated industrial boom in Pinjarra (1963), combined with an idyllic lifestyle by the coast, saw Mandurah grow rapidly, and on 1 July 1987 it became the Town of Mandurah. Three years later, on 14 April 1990, Mandurah became the fifth non-metropolitan settlement in Western Australia to be named a city. [edit] Places of cultural heritage significance
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