The district had been known as South Coogee since the 1870s and this earlier name remains in use by older settlers of the area.

The district contains the site of Thomas Peel's original settlement, the Clarence townsite, the first recorded land grants in the Cockburn area, and around Lake Coogee the remains of the cottages built by the Pensioner Guards in the 1880s.

The Munster district is unique in the continuous occupation of the Anderson, Newman, and Sawle properties by those families since the last century.[timeframe?]

[7] The suburb contains the Cockburn Cement works,[8] which has a significant impact on the surrounding land use (restricting the residential growth of the area).

The Australian Marine Complex[9] was, until 2020, also partially located within the southern portion of the suburb, primarily the Technology Precinct (which includes Raytheon Australia, and a new TAFE facility - Australian Centre for Energy and Process Training (ACEPT) - South Metropolitan TAFE).