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CORRIGIN

HEMA Map reference 74/D6

32° 20' 09" S 117° 52' 31" E

Statistics

Caravan Park

Corrigin                  08 9063 2515

Services

Attractions

Dog cemetery, Pioneer Museum, Wildflowers, Granite outcrops (George Rock Pool), Kunjin Animal Farm, Mallee Shed.

Buildings of note

Unknown

Calendar of events

January: Australia Day. February - March: New resident sundowner. Easter: Tennis tournament. April: Dog in a ute.  May: Australia's biggest morning tea. September: Corrigin Show. December: Carols by candle light.

George Rock Hall

George Rock Pool

 George Rock

Description

The first lease in the area was taken up by D.G. Lynch in 1872 but very little development took place until after 1910. The first road board was established in 1913 and the railway came to the area in 1914.

The townsite was first gazetted in 1913 as Dondakin. The local name of Corrigin was not adopted as it sounded too much like Korrijinn, but when Korrijinn became Bickley, Dondakin became Corrigin in May 1914.

One unusual thing about the town is the 'Dog cemetery' where local dog owners lay their four legged family members to rest. Considering the usual Australian attitude to dogs this is a big surprise. There are over 80 pets at rest here and you will find it west of the town just north of the main road.

Each year Corrigin holds the 'Dog in a Ute' competition in which owners of dog and utes (utility vehicles known as 'pick-ups' in the USA) join a procession in an attempt to set a world record for the largest number of utes with dogs in them. It is to be hoped that ALL the dogs are properly retrained as required by law - far too many dogs have been mutilated or killed by falls from utes in the past.

The first 'Dog in a Ute' competition was held in St Arnaud in Victoria in 1997. The inaugural record was 214 dogs in utes. Another town in Victoria (Terang) joined in the fun and set the bar at 325. The first event held in Corrigin more than doubled the previous record with 699 dogs in utes. More importantly $20,000 was raised for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. The towns have been competing for the record ever since but it is good to see that Corrigin still holds the record by doubling its own record with 1527 dogs in utes parading through the town in 2002.

Tall tales & true: Old MacDonald

Mac (Mr. MacDonald) was known to be a wee bit canny when it came to parting with ‘brass’. He was said to have sold the local publican two Christmas turkeys that were later found to have come from the pub’s own poultry run.

On another occasion a traveler stayed with Mac for a few hours to rest his horse. When it came time to leave the reins could not be found. Mac was most sympathetic and offered to sell the traveler his ‘spare set’ and it was not until later that night that the traveler realised he had bought his own reins.

Mac was credited with having the first car in town (a model T Ford) and ran a sort of taxi service. On one run he stopped at Bruce Rock on the way back to Corrigin to refuel. Somehow he managed to put in turpentine by mistake and on the way home flames shot out of the exhaust pipe terrifying his passenger. ‘It won’t catch us!’ Mac said and put his foot down on the accelerator. Mac, the car and his passenger all made the trip in one piece.

Bush towns seem to have had their fair share of practical jokers over the years. Perhaps it was just a good way of relieving the boredom.

At a dance one evening where mothers left their babies in prams outside in the cool evening air, some wag switched a couple of the youngsters and it wasn’t until the very surprised mothers got home that they found their children had ‘changed sex’.

Another incident involved a visiting horse and cart. The owner was occupied (possibly imbibing at the local hotel) and emerged some time later to find the horse had been moved to the other side of a fence, the carts shafts had been put through the fence and the horse re-attached.

One local (Mr. Lindsay) woke one morning to find he had a zebra. Someone had painted black stripes on his white horse.