To get hold of any liquor in the very early days of Cowaramup required a great deal of forward planning. So, at a meeting in early 1950, Bill Dempster moved that the Branch members should sponsor the development of a Social Club in Cowaramup. With the help of local politicians, a License Permit was obtained after the Club's aims and proposals (a mixed club) were forwarded. Land was purchased at a small price from Mr Roy Earl and plans for a building submitted to the Shire. In April 1953, money was forthcoming, lent by local residents, and building was underway by late September.

The Club commenced operations in 1954 with Bill Dempster as President, Harry Morris as Secretary and Tom Barnett as Treasurer. On the 1st of July 1954 a triumphant and excited committee had the satisfaction of officially opening the Cowaramup Club for business. The club had draught and packaged beer and kept a supply of half-gallon containers for decanting sherry, muscat and port wine. In August 1954 it was decided to hold the club's official opening on the 18th of September 1954 at 8.30pm. 250 invitation were sent out. The opening night was very successful with an appreciative attendance. The social side of the club began with simple recreations such as darts, bridge and indoor bowls.

In March 1955 the club had a stroke of luck. Bill Dempster was told by Ray Hunt that he knew of a second-hand billiards table for sale for thirty pounds. They bought the table and Joe Fogarty was asked to draw up plans and specifications to extend the darts room to make it suitable for playing billiards. The establishment of the billiards room had social significance for all members, because at the time billiards had an aura of high social status. Rich people had billiards rooms in their big houses, gentlemen's clubs had billiards tables, therefore Cowaramup must be doing well if it could afford to have a billiards room in its club too.

A formal committee was formed in 1956 and there was a noticeable heightening of activities. That year they held three happy functions, which later became annual features. These were the Birthday Night, the Children's Christmas Party and the New Year's Eve Celebration. There was also the Beach Picnic in early February at Meelup with beer, soft drinks, ice cream watermelon, a buried treasure hunt for the children, bag fights for the men and most important of all, speed-boat rides. Race Night was held at Easter when horses were moved around the track at the throw of a dice. Followed by a curry and rice supper.

In 1957 fundraising continued, a garden was put in and a temprite was installed. With the addition of the billiards room to the clubhouse the committee could see that the existing amount of space left on the block of land might not be adequate in the future, so the Earls were approach to purchase the piece of land alongside the club on the western side. It was purchased for twenty-five pounds and there have been many ideas for this spot over the years, but as of today, the land is used for parking.

In April 1958 the Cowaramup RSL Hall burnt down. Until a new meeting place was built, many of the functions and meetings which would have been held at the RSL would have to be held at the club. This was an unexpected boost to the club's income. On the 5 November 1958, the club began holding Bonfire Night for the children, with lollies and ten pounds worth of fireworks. They also bought a table tennis table for twenty pounds, but it was never as popular as the clubs billiards table.

In 1963 the RSL with the clubs' support, planted trees down both sides of Station Road as an Avenue of Honour, leading to it later being officially renamed Memorial Drive.

The mid-1960s to mid-1980s were a busy time of expanding the size of the building in all four directions and putting in new amenities. In 1964 it was agreed to raise one thousand pounds to begin putting a dance hall on the southern side of the billiards room. The first dance was held in the hall on the 26 February 1966.

In January 1967 plans were drawn up to extend the building westwards for new men's and women's bathrooms, along the western side of the billiards room. It was finally finished in July 1968.

In March 1971, Bryce Thompson was given the job of drawing up some rough plans for a kitchen.

In May 1972, the club had 540 members.

The new kitchen was a lengthy job and took almost two years to finish. It was completed in July 1974. The main complication was that part way through the building process Cowaramup's town water supply was finalised. The club applied to be connected to it, and this made some expensive changes necessary in the kitchens plumbing and drainage.

On the 11 July 1977, the club began to extend both the eastern and northern walls of the bar outwards for 14ft and cladding them in brick. The extra eastern section was to form a sunken lounge area with jarrah, balustrades and steps. At the same time both bathrooms and the loading ramp were extended, an extractor fan fitted over the bar and special sinks put in the liquor storeroom. Some of the left-over bricks were used to make the raised flower bed on the front of the club. Now that the male toilets inside had been extended, the little old structure out in the yard was no longer needed for membership and could be removed. This was done with a ceremony, amid much laughter and story-telling.

A new shift in entertainment was evident in 1978 when the committee listened to the younger members and hosted the first of several disco nights using a disc jockey and recorded music.

By 1979 the club had 1,000 members and the committee had established a pattern of having diner dances and cabaret nights with live entertainers. The three-course meals for these functions were always cooked and served by the wives of the Committee men. It was obvious the kitchen needed lots of work so it was upgraded, enough crockery and cutlery was purchased for 200 and had a verandah built onto the north side. The club was now the social centre of town.

On the 27 and 28 November 1980 famous snooker player, Eddie Charlton put on two exhibitions. The event was so popular that Gary Holben and Gavin Leiper temporary erected tiered seating so that all spectators would have a good view. The club's billiard table was spruced up for the occasion and everyone marveled as the champion demonstrated his immense expertise.

In 1984 Dennis Lillee was asked to give one of his speeches at the Cowaramup Club. There was great excitement among members and the tickets sold out quickly. Everyone enjoyed his account of his wonderful career and the amusing things that had happened to him over the years.

In 1985 plans were underway to extend the southern wall again. The committee decided to also extend the length of the hall eastwards, put in coloured lights and fans, make a meeting room opening off what is now the dining room and put in a new verandah and steps along the eastern side. This is possibly when a ladies toilet was built opening out the bar area. The roof was insulated and re-clad too.

In March 1987 the club decided to form its own internal darts competition. They were to use the name of Cowaramup and Districts Social Club Darts Association.

The bar was not big or efficient enough to cope with the added demands being made on it, so in June 1988 a "wake" was held, and the bar was stripped and altered. It was not a cheap job. The quote for the carpet alone was almost eleven thousand dollars, to be supplied and laid by Geoff Gallagher. The carpet was clearly worth every dollar - as it is still at the club today and in very good condition.

For birthday night in 1992 the club hired its first DJ, David Crouch. It was the first time that there wasn't a live band.

In 1993 a gas-fired barbecue was built on the outside of the hall near the bowling green and the art group put up a storage shed near the clubs shed. The club installed a security system. The committee also bought a glass-fronted cabinet and put it in the meeting room. Retired school teacher and local historian, Phillip Blond had donated to the club the notes, old photographs, tape recording and maps which he had gathered while writing his history of Cowaramup. It is still there today.

At the club's 40th birthday party in 1994 it had about 600 members. From the number of advertisements and the Margaret River Times article about the event it was obvious the club still had a lot of community support.

In 1996 it was decided to raise the floor of the sunken lounge to be level with the rest of the bar making more room for snooker and darts, as well as live music, which was popular at the time. The club also built a beer garden, named the Bill Dempster Beer Garden, in memory of the man who had died in 1993 and had been largely instrumental in getting the club built in the first place.

The children's Christmas party became a must-go for adults from 1998. That year, Gavin Leiper began his now famous annual lolly-drops. Where he would fly his plane very low over the club and have an assistant (Gary Holben) drop bags of lollies in the neighboring paddock. Then excited children would race into the paddock and scavenge themselves as many lolly bags as they could find. The committee did always have to remember to ask the Earl family to take their cattle out of the paddock well before the big day!

In June 2003 the club had 460 members and published a book called The History Of The Cowaramup Club. Big events like the darts weekend was popular. Attracting 22 teams and sponsored by Swan Brewery.

In 2007 a deck was installed overlooking the bowling green.

2017

The club took its appreciation for wine and spirits to a new level in 2017 when we created a unique Christmas tree made from local wine bottles and a few whisky bottles. The tree, made by one of the staff with help from the local men’s shed become a popular talking point for locals and visitors. So popular in fact, it made national news!

2018

In July 2018 the Club installed solar panels to help with its energy bills and carbon footprint. They also added the cool room.

2024

In 2024 the Club celebrated seventy-years. The ladies and unisex bathrooms received a revamp, and the kitchen had some much needed updates.

Today and the Future of The Club

The Club, its premises and activities, have grown considerably over the years. The Committee policy of making the Club the hub of the districts social activities has proved most successful, in spite of having the lowest member fee in Australia. For the last few years, the club has rallied to recruit new members, as well as raise funds to improve their facilities. In 2025, the club will soon begin construction on a new deck and playground and currently has over 500 members.