Stuarts Point was once the first port of call for vessels which entered the river beside Grassy Head the old entrance to the Macleay River.

It was named after John Stuart, a shipbuilder who built ships near the old entrance in the days of the cedar trade on the river.

During the later part of the 19th Century Stuarts Point was a busy place with schooners, ketches and small steamers of shallow draught putting in to the settlement. The Government wharf was the scene of much activity as vessels loaded and unloaded.

Adjacent to the wharf was Hennessy’s sawmill to which hardwood logs were brought by bullock teams from the forests of Eungai, Yarrahapinni and Barranganyatti. Others were conveyed to the mill by log punts from the then navigable Clybucca Creek.

The activity at Stuarts Point began to decline in the 20th Century with the opening of the river new entrance at South West Rocks.