User:Euryalus/temp

The coastline of Port Kembla was originally charted by Captain James Cook in the HMS Endeavour. On 25 May 1770 Cook observed the southern headland of the bay and named it Red Point as some of the land surrounding it appeared to be that colour Initially this name was also used for all the land around the bay.

In 1796 George Bass and Matthew Flinders anchored in the bay after their exploration vessel the Tom Thumb was forced to shelter from a storm. Bass and Flinders explored inland to the area of present-day lake Illawarra, and named the islands off Red Point the Martin Isles (later changed to the Five Islands).

In February 1797 five survivors of the wreck of the Sydney Cove in Bass Strait reached the bay on their overland journey back to the settlement of Sydney. Two of the five were killed by indigenous tribes near Mount Keira but the remainder reached Sydney in May of that year. One of these survivors reported that he had seen coal deposits in the cliffs near Red point. Governor William Hunter ordered George Bass to return to the location to investigate, and Bass confirmed the presence of coal in a written report to the Governor. Bass' report and his earlier sightings of the area also confirmed the presence of stands of red cedar, useful in construction of housing and ships.

Despite these natural resources the bay remained largely inaccessible until a track was cut from Appin to Bulli by Charles Throsby in 1815. A second route from Appin to Mt Keira was laid out in 1821

In 1817 the surrounding land was granted to a farmer named David Allen, who named his property Ilalwarra Farm. Allen sold the farm to Richard Jones in 1827, who then sold it to William Charles Wentworth a year later. From 1834 to 1844 the harbour served as a collection point for wood and dairy produce from Illawarra Farm to be shipped north to the new settlement of Wollongong. A breakwater and minor jetty were constructed to cater for this early trade.

In 1861 a tramway was opened linking the jetty in the bay with the coal mines at Mt Keira. This was accompanied by improvements to shipping facilities to allow berthing of larger coal carriers. The new shipping facilities and an icnrease in breakwater height encoruaged additional industrial development, with a kerosene factory opening at Mt Kembla in December 1865 and a rail link direct from Mt Kembla to the bay in 1883.

In 1883 the Mt Kembla Coal and Oil Company constructed a 280 metre jetty to handle the growing export trade for local kerosense and coal. The harbour was formally named Port Kembla, reflecting its link to the company's Mount Kembla. A second wharf was built in 1887 by the Southern Coal Company which was capable of loading 300 tonnes of coal an hour.

Pressure from these coal companies led to the passage of the Port Kemba Harbour Act on 23 December 1898, authorising the formation of a harbour between new eastern and northern breakwalls and the compulsory acquisition of land, jetties and railway lines by the Government of New SOuth Wales.