Coogee
is a beachside suburb of Sydney adjacent
to Coogee Bay (the Tasman Sea) in the
east, Clovelly in the north, Randwick
in the west and Kingsford and Maroubra
in the south. The boundaries are formed
mainly by Clovelly Road, Avoca Street
and Rainbow Street, with arbitrary lines
drawn to join these thoroughfares to the
coast in the north-east and south-east
corners. The name "Coogee" is
said to be taken from a local Aboriginal
word believed to mean "smelly place",
or "stinking seaweed"; a reference
to the smell of decaying kelp washed up
on the beach. Although at certain times
large quantities of seaweed are still
washed up, it is usually removed before
it gets a chance to smell. Early visitors
to the area, from the 1820's onwards,
were not able to confirm exactly what
the word "Coogee" meant, or
if it in fact related to Coogee Beach.
Another name, "Bobroi", was
also recalled as the indigenous name for
the locality. Some evidence suggests that
the word "Coogee" may in fact
be the original aboriginal place name
for the next bay to the north that is
now called Gordon's Bay.
The
Aboriginal population had largely relocated
by the mid-19th century after being decimated
by disease and violent clashes with early
settlers, though some Aborigines live
in the area today. Coogee was gazetted
as a village in 1838, growing slowly until
it was connected to the city by electric
tram in 1902. The suburb's popularity
as a seaside resort was now guaranteed
and the Coogee Surf Life Saving Club was
founded in 1907. Population growth began
in earnest in the 1920s. An English-style
seaside entertainment pier stood at the
beach between 1928 and 1934 but it was
demolished after damage by the surf. The
Shark Arm Case refers to an incident in
Coogee in 1935, when a captured tiger
shark regurgitated a human arm. The arm
belonged to a missing person, James Smith,
and was identified by a tattoo. The arm
had been cut off, which led to a murder
investigation. Nobody was ever charged
over the murder, although another local
criminal, Reginald Holmes, was found shot
in a car near the Sydney Harbour Bridge
the day before the inquest into Smith's
death was due to commence.
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