Hervey Bay History

First sighted by James Cook in 1770, he named the bay Hervey Bay after his friend John Augustus Hervey who later became a British Admiral.

When land officially became available in the early 1870's, five seperate small communities developed along 20km of foreshore. These villages became known as Point Vernon, Pialba, Scarness, Torquay and Urangan. It wasn't until 1976 that these five communities united to form the Hervey Bay Shire Council and in 1984 officially became a city called "The City of Hervey Bay".

Today, the City encompasses 2351 sq kilometres with 60 kilmetres of foreshore extending from Burrum Heads in the west to River Heads in the East. The Bay inlet itself is very large, 60km wide and 65km long from north to south.

The earliest purchase of land was 16000 acres for grazing in 1855. In 1866, the first white settler Boyle Martin made his 'camp' at Pialba and began the timber industry by cutting the pines. More land was made available in the 1870's which allowed two more industries to rapidly develop, agriculture and fishing. Agriculture centred around cattle, bananas and citrus while fishing was mainly oyster farming and dugong hunting followed by net fishing and beach fishing in the 1930's. Today's fish operations include the exporting of scallops, crabs and fish. Game fishing is also beginning to be recognised as an emerging industry.

From 1897 to 1940, world prize-winning coffee was grown but the cutting of coastal vegetation exposed the coffee plants to sea salt stopping production.

Coal mining was first mined in the Burrum area 1865 and continued until 1997. In all, 94 mines dug 100% pure coal throughout this area which became also the first area to export coal internationally as it was regarded as the best in the world. The last mine to close was at Torbanlea. Today visitors can visit the Burrum District Museum located at 2 Burrum Street Howard.

Sugar cane was slow to gain recognition until a railway was built in 1896, which allowed the produce to be transported to the major township of Maryborough 34km inland. The railway was also used for the export of produce but ceased operation in 1969 when it became too costly to maintain. Pineapple gained recognition and became a leading export of crops. Today both the pineapple and sugar industry are still a major source of revenue for the area.

In the 1950's the Caltex Oil Company began drilling, erecting rigs around Urangan area. Soon after, the drilling stopped without disclosing information. Caltex however did build an oil terminal adjacent to the pier at Urangan in 1960. Fuel was distributed from here to the Wide Bay area up until 1985, when the new oil supertankers were unable to navigate the Bay because of their size.

A powerhouse was built to service electricity at Howard but closed in 1980.

The Pier, named Port of Maryborough, was originally built to off-load cargo from passing shipping and was opened in 1917. To reach the deep water channel the pier was 1.1km long (3690 ft). Later the railway line was extended to include the pier and the end building, the pier began being used by local industry, in particular sugar.

From 1960 to 1985, the pier was only used for fuel. It closed in 1985 by which time the pier was in dire need of repairs, so the head of the pier was removed and the remainder used by locals for fishing. Because of historical significance and recognised as a tourist spot, the state government handed Hervey Bay City the pier in 1994. To help raise revenue for restoration, Hervey Bay holds an annual Pier Festival in September.

Tourism has now become one of the major industry in Hervey Bay. From the beginning, the foreshores of the bay were used for weekend social gatherings and listing to popular music bands. In the 1870's Maryborough businessmen began purchasing beach land to build holiday homes. People would come from 150km inland to enjoy the beaches or camp along the foreshores during a Christmas vacation.

Today Hervey Bay caters for all types of tourists, from the up-market to the most casual. The city has many attractions either natural or man made, bringing visitors to the area not just through the whale watching season but all year round.