Cocamba: Local History and Historic Water Storage

If you’re planning a trip to Cocamba, several historical themes offer a way into its local history: its proclamation as a township, the origin of its name, and traces of earlier water storage and survey trees. These different points of reference help place Cocamba in context, rather than reducing its history to a single structure. If you’re looking for a hotel for a trip to Cocamba, these themes can provide a specific focus for your travel planning.

Township Proclamation and the History of the Name

Cocamba was proclaimed a township under the name Cocamba pursuant to section 19 of the Land Act 1915. Its proclamation in 1915 is a clearly dated point of reference in local history. Another clue lies in the name: Cocamba is considered a variation or corruption of Koolcimboo. That was the name of a tank in the Mallee and means “Laughing Kookaburra.”

The name Cocamba was also adopted for a historic railway station on the Bendigo to Manangatang line. The township’s proclamation and the history of its name are two distinct historical points of reference: one is associated with a precisely specified year, the other with a word from the Mallee and the history of a railway line.

Water Storage as a Trace of Local History

Miller’s Tank is on Miller’s Tank Road in Cocamba. This large, rectangular water storage has an embankment crest measuring approximately 40 by 70 metres. Its significance also lies in its historical context: Miller’s Tank is a locally significant and representative example of excavated water storages built in designated water reserves in the Mallee along major transport routes in the early 20th century.

The tank also points to a former township: Miller’s Tank is the only surviving evidence of the township of Miller’s Tank, which was located there in the 1920s and 1930s. Two historical perspectives come together at this site: the development of water storages along major routes and the memory of an earlier settlement. This offers a different perspective on Cocamba from its proclamation as a township in 1915.

Another named water storage is the Log Tank on Moondah Road in Cocamba. It is rectangular and approximately 30 by 20 metres in size. A historical survey recorded that no original log lining remained. Comparing it with Miller’s Tank also requires taking the different measurements into account: the approximate size of 40 by 70 metres for Miller’s Tank refers to the embankment crest, while the measurement for the Log Tank refers to the rectangular water storage. The two figures therefore do not describe the same type of area.

Survey Trees and Historical Images

Two surviving survey trees are also part of Cocamba’s locally notable history. Their trunks originally bore incised letters, numbers and the Colonial Government’s arrow motif. Heavy termite damage to the exposed trunk surfaces has now made the original inscriptions illegible. The survey trees’ markings are also badly damaged.

A 1916 Museums Victoria photographic negative offers another perspective on local history. It shows schoolchildren and a teacher outside the Cocamba school in Victoria and is currently in storage. The image complements the historical references to place names, water storage and markings with a specific scene of people and a school.

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For the broader travel overview: Victoria.