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The first sighting of Franklin
Harbour was made by Matthew Flinders who decided that it was not
worth naming.
The harbour was eventually
discovered by Robert Cock who sailed into it whilst surveying the
northerly section of Spencer Gulf. It is reputed to be the safest
harbour on the Eyre Peninsula, covering an area of 49 sq km and
having an opening to the sea which is barely 100m wide.
Franklin Harbour was named by
Governor Gawler after Sir John Franklin (Governor of Tasmania).
In the 1850s the hinterland became
settled by wheat and sheep farmers. The township of Cowell was
officially gazetted in 1880 by Governor Sir William Francis
Drummond Jervois who named the town after Sir John Clayton Cowell
who was, at the time, the Lieutenant-Governor of Windsor Castle.
Today the main industries in Cowell
include fishing, oyster farming, sheep and wheat farming. Popular
tourist attractions include the Jade Factory, Museum and the Black
Stump. |
