Port Macquarie was established in 1821 after John Oxley in October 1818 followed the Hastings River from the mountains and came across this idyllic port which he proclaimed to be a “paradise of great significance and potential”.
Port Macquarie was initially used as a place of secondary punishment, to receive convicts who had transgressed the law a second time after transportation to the Colony. Port's convict population peaked in 1825, but was then progressively run down until 1830 when the Hastings Valley was opened up to free settlement.
Pilot Cottages – now the Maritime Museum
These Pilot Station cottages, now part of the Mid North Coast Maritime Museum, were built between 1896 and 1937. A pilot would guide ships into shore by using their knowledge of the safest way through the bar. There used to be 4 cottages in this block, but one was relocated to another part of Port Macquarie to make way for a new building.
The site has been used for maritime activities from the earliest white settlement of Port Macquarie.