The story of this place
When Captain Cook sighted Nobbys Head on May 10, 1770, he described it as 'a small round rock or island, laying close under the land.' He had no idea that within decades, convicts would spend 38 years building a pier to connect it to the mainland. The Awabakal people knew it as Whibayganba, and it features in their Dreaming stories.
Governor Macquarie ordered the pier's construction on August 5, 1818, using convict labour. Men worked through all weather and tides, with many lost to the sea. The pier was finally completed on June 12, 1846—Mr Scott, the clerk of works, became the first person to walk its full length. Originally 62 metres high, the island was reduced to 27.5 metres because sailing ships were losing wind in their sails as they rounded it. The rock removed was used to build the pier. Today, Nobbys Head Lighthouse, the third lighthouse built in NSW (1858), still guides ships into Newcastle Harbour.