The original inhabitants of the Brunswick Valley were Aboriginal people from the Minjangbal and Durrungbil Tribes. The Minjangbal people lived in the New Brighton and Ocean Shores areas where seafood and an abundance of wildlife provided a constant food supply. The Durrungbil Tribe lived at Brunswick Heads.
Captain Rous named the Brunswick River in 1828 but it was not until later that the first recorded settlement of Brunswick Heads took place. Cedar logging commenced along the banks of the Brunswick River in 1849.
By the early 1850's Brunswick Heads had become an established sea port for transporting cedar to Sydney. Also, as the banks of the Brunswick River were lined with an abundance of timber species well suited to boat-building and repair, a large boat-building industry developed at Brunswick Heads.