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Katanning is a town located 277 km south east of Perth, Western Australia on the Great Southern Highway. It is 311 m above sea level. The current population is 4,236.^[1]

The first Europeans to explore the Katanning area were Governor James Stirling and Surveyor General John Septimus Roe who travelled through the area in 1835 en route from Perth to Albany.

In about 1870, sandalwood cutters moved into the area but they did not settle. It was not until the arrival of the Great Southern Railway from Perth to Albany in 1889 that the township came into existence.

An earthquake was centred just south of Katanning at 8.00am 10 October 2007. The Earthquake measured 4.8 on the Richter scale as is rated as the largest earthquake in the region for four decades. ^[2]

A statue of Frederick Henry Piesse (by sculptor Pietro Porcelli) was erected in 1916 and stands beside the railway line in Austral Terrace. The Piesse family constructed a regal mansion which was named "Kobeelya" (view image) and after being used for many years a girls' boarding school, is now a conference centre managed by the local Baptist church.

Katanning features a unique playground of over-sized structures such as this slide. It is aptly named the "All Ages Playground" (view images).

Katanning playground

The town has many other attractions, including a state of the art recreation, leisure and function centre (view image).

Katanning has a relatively large Muslim population, of about 350 people,[1] and consequently has a mosque (view image). The vast majority of local muslims originated in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and travelled to Katanning to work in the local abbatoir, which was established in the late 1970s.

Other religious buildings include churches from Anglican, Baptist, Catholic, Lutheran, Seventh Day Adventist, Uniting, and Wesleyan denominations, along with a Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall.

The town also has a fascinating castle-like structure which was built as a winery (view image).

The town's "entrance statement" - featuring an antique truck loaded with imitation wool bales, a windmill, and several sculptures of sheep made from corrugated iron - is very striking as well (view image).

The town has become a regional service centre for the Great Southern and services the nearby towns of Broomehill, Tambellup and Woodanilling plus several more.

• Kevin O'Halloran, gold medallist in the 4x200m freestyle relay at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne was born and raised in Katanning, and the pool is named after him.

• Percy Gratwick, posthumous Victoria Cross recipient in World War II was born in Katanning.

1. ^ 2004 estimate from the ABS
2. ^ ABC News WA earthquake rocks southern Wheatbelt (2007). Retrieved on 2007-10-10.

• KatanningWA.com
• KatWeb.com.au
• Katanning.com
• Katanning.net
• Westnet, Katanning weather

Coordinates: 33°42′S, 117°33′E