History

The earliest inhabitants of Port Stephens were the Aborigines of the Worimi Tribe whom Charles Grimes referred to as a taller, stouter race of people than those about Sydney with a completely different language.

At the time of white settlement there were about 400 Aborigines living around the estuary of Port Stephens. The tribe had only 50 members in 1873. By 1900 there were very few tribal Aborigines left. White observers at that time left some descriptions of a lifestyle now mostly gone.

There are numerous Aboriginal relic sites in the area, the most obvious being the "Canoe Trees" at Little Beach. The exact location of the various sites is restricted information. In the area stretching from Wallis lakes to Newcastle there are 37 recorded Ceremonial Sites (stone arrangements, bora grounds, carved trees and burial sites), 115 recorded campsites (mia mia, scarred tree, open campsite, shelter with deposit, well, fish trap, abraded grooves and quarries) and 97 middens. Four middens and a burial site are located at the base of Yacaaba Head. Middens are located at Fingal Spit, Anna Bay, Schnapper Point, Boat Harbour, Skate Bay and Fishermans Bay. There is a burial site at Skate Bay and grinding grooves at Morna Point.

Port Stephens was first noted by Europeans in May 1770 when Captain James Cook referred to Port Stephens in his log as "an opening forming a bay". He went on to describe; "Wind southerly in the day and in the night westerly, a gentle breeze and clear weather. At 4pm past at a distance of one mile a low rocky point which I named Point Stephens... on the north side of this point is an inlet which I called Port Stephens that appears from the masthead to be sheltered from all winds".