Karrakup is one of the newer suburb names around Byford, adopted in 1997. Its name is Noongar, and one of its heritage buildings was once a children’s home.
How Karrakup got its name
Landgate records that the name comes from karrak, the Noongar word for the red-tailed black cockatoo, which is common in the area. Karrakup was approved as a suburb name on 1 May 1997.
Before the suburb
This is Noongar country. Landgate describes Karrakup as a large area of forest and farm country east of Byford.
Places that tell the story
Burnbrae, on Admiral Road, is listed under Karrakup in the Shire’s Local Heritage Survey as the Burnbrae Orphanage. The City of Armadale’s historical timeline records that in 1939 the Presbyterian Children’s Home at Byford, Burnbrae, ran a school. The Shire’s earlier heritage list records that the building later became an Aboriginal rehabilitation centre.
Karrakup today
Karrakup remains mostly forest and farmland, with Byford’s growth and its new railway station to the west.
More about Karrakup
For what Karrakup is like to live in now, read our Karrakup suburb profile. If you own a property in Karrakup and are thinking about selling, start with buyers for your property.
Sources
- Landgate: Perth and surrounds suburb names (archived 2022)
- Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale: Local Heritage Survey 2021 to 2025
- City of Armadale Library: Historical timeline
Top image: Nettleton Road through the bush of Karrakup, October 2026. Photo: Arthur Taksin, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Dates and names are drawn from the sources above. Where sources differ, we have said so or given an approximate date.
By Key Performance Real Estate, 338 Beaufort Street, Perth
Category
Suburb Histories
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