In 1799 Matthew Flinders landed on the present southern headland
at Yamba. He’d been despatched from Sydney to find a new Eden,
but from his vantage point atop a craggy promontory, now Pilot
Head, he dismissed the turbulent estuary as dangerous and
unworthy of further examination, before sailing away. In 1830’s,
timber harvesting commenced. in 1861, the Townsite was surveyed,
and by October 1862 construction of the breakwater Clarence
River Heads Post Office was completed. Originally named Shoal
Bay and later in 1885, to be renamed Yamba with a population of
approx 340. In 1908 the Yamba Surf Lifesaving Club was formed,
guesthouses and hotels arose, the region's fishing industry
began to expand and sugar cane became an established crop.
Riverboats and steamers that plied between Grafton and Sydney
were gradually replaced by rail and better road connections and
from the 1970s Yamba's appeal as a holiday resort started to
impact on the people of both New South Wales and Southern
Queensland.
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