This interesting collection of history facts has been collated by Tom Phillips. Link to the original document is here.
Note: This is a 4 part article - links to the other parts are at the bottom of each page.

If any locals have some more recent memories or events to add, please contact me - especially some in the period 1950-today.

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APRIL 21 1770 : Captain James Cook first sighted the Shoalhaven District and named Pigeon House Mountain because it resembled a dove-house with a dome on top. (This conflicts with the report in William A Bayley’s “Shoalhaven” who states this was recorded on 22nd April, 1770).

APRIL 16 1797 : Eight survivors of a party of seventeen entered the Shoalhaven on or about this day. They were from the wreck of the “Sydney Cove” and were attempting to reach Port Jackson from Point Hicks by foot. By April 20th they had reached Jervis Bay. On May 15th the three surviving members of the party were rescued by a fishing boat 14 miles south of Botany Bay.

DECEMBER 7 1797 : George Bass, in a whaleboat with a crew of six seamen, discovered the mouth of a river which he wrote “…..deserves no better name than Shoals Haven”. This was in fact, the Crookhaven River.

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This interesting collection of history facts has been collated by Tom Phillips. Link to the original document is here.

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JANUARY 23 1863 : “The Pluto” began dredging the Shoalhaven River between the punt crossing at Bomaderry and Appletree Island (Greenwell Point). It kept to the task for 10 years!

MAY 1 1866 : The Government Ferry began operating across the Shoalhaven River from Nowra to Bomaderry. The approaches were washed away by tides and sometimes vehicles had to await the tide before they could cross. Each flood threw it out of action.

FEBRUARY 2 1867 : Shoalhaven’s first local paper was established by Charles Isaac Watson, entitled “The News, Shoalhaven”. On May 18th a sub-title, “Shoalhaven and Southern Districts Advertiser”, was added. On June 24th, 1871 it changed its title to “The Shoalhaven News, Ulladulla and Southern Coast Districts Advertiser” and, on October
13th 1873 changed its sub-title to “Broughton Creek, Kiama and Ulladulla Advertiser”. It was printed at Terara, the principal Shoalhaven town at the time. read more…

This interesting collection of history facts has been collated by Tom Phillips. Link to the original document is here.
Note: This is a 4 part article - links to the other parts are at the bottom of each page.

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MAY 24 1898 : The old bridge across Kangaroo River was washed away by flood. This was five days after the new Hampden Bridge was opened!

MAY 1 1899 : Opening of the lighthouse on Point Perpendicular. Kerosene operated, the light was in a 44 foot tower. The original lighthouse on Cape St. George (built in 1860) was closed. It was later demolished by the Navy, using it for gunnery practice.

MAY 5 1902 : The Nowra Co-Operative Dairy Company began operations as a butter factory on the western side of the Shoalhaven River bridge on the southern side of the river. The building originally cost £550.

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This interesting collection of history facts has been collated by Tom Phillips. Link to the original document is here.
Note: This is a 4 part article - links to the other parts are at the bottom of each page.

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JANUARY 11 1933 : Seven Mile Beach was made famous as the take-off point by aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith for the first crossing of the Tasman Sea. The flight took more than 14 hours. Whilst it is acknowledged that the take-off run started in Kiama Municipality, many argue that the wheels of the “Southern Cross” actually left terra-firma in Shoalhaven.

MAY 16 1936 : The Minister for Local Government officially opened the Back Forest Bridge over the mouth of Broughton Creek replacing the punt service which had operated for many years. It was a timber beam bridge of ten spans, 300 feet long and 16 feet wide between kerbs.

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