Cowell

Cowell is a coastal town on Franklin Harbor on the eastern side of the Eyre Peninsula, in South Australia on the Lincoln Highway 111 km south of the major town of Whyalla.

Cowell is a coastal town on Franklin Harbor on the eastern side of the Eyre Peninsula, in South Australia on the Lincoln Highway 111 km south of the major town of Whyalla. It is 493 km by road from Adelaide.Franklin Harbor is a natural harbour 49 km2 in area with a channel to the sea just 100 metres wide.

The town of Cowell is the major population centre of the District Council of Franklin Harbour, and the centre of an agricultural district, farming wheat and sheep. The district covers an area of 3,283 square kilometres with a district population in 2011 of 1070. Fishing, and more recently, oyster farming has also been an important industry.

When settlers commenced farming the area in 1853, Franklin Harbour became a logical place to load ships for export of wheat and wool and a small settlement was soon established.

The town was surveyed during July 1880 and was proclaimed on 28 October 1880.It was named after John Clayton Cowell who was a British soldier who served as the Governor of Windsor Castle.The locality's boundaries were gazetted on 23 December 1998 and include the Government Town of Cowell and the site of the ceased Government Town of Ferns, and the unbounded localities of Yabmana and Elbow Hill.In 1965, a deposit of jade was discovered in the nearby Minbrie Ranges. To date over 100 outcrops have been found within an area of 9 square kilometres and as such has been designated by the South Australian Department of Minerals and Energy Resources as the "Cowell Jade Province".

The Franklin Harbour Historical Museum, situated in the old post office residence in Main Street, Cowell preserves many historically important artefacts of the region, both natural and manmade.

The historic Franklin Harbour Hotel in Main Street is listed on the South Australian Heritage Register.