History and Heritage

North Arm Cove is a quiet little coastal village now but had some dreams been realised it could well have turned into a bustling port city. " The most central spot, where the new city is to be in the Great Port of the New Northern State. "

Sunday 6 May 1918 is the accepted date for when the Port Stephens waterfront village of North Arm Cove began life as Port Stephens City. The celebrated Canadian Town Planner Walter Burley-Griffin designed this location & presented his plan to the Stroud Shire Council on this date 100 years ago which included a railway line, government administrative area ,a port location, all to be developed around his concept of circular roads surrounding important elements of the City , very much in the same way he had designed our National Capital of Canberra some 5 years or so, earlier ....

This is not a story about the army take-over of our peninsular. Those events are however mentioned in the book about our village – which is of course a great gift option for family and friends! Instead, this is a story about the past efforts of the local community to change the name of our village.

The two neighbouring villages to our east, Bundabah and Pindimar, bear names of Aboriginal origin. In 1983, the North Arm Cove community felt that our village too should be known by the Aboriginal name for the area: “Baromee”. But as...

The struggle for water access in North Arm Cove - including a community boat ramp and jetty - has been a long one which, until now, has always met with disappointment. For almost 50 years the Residents Association (which has over time also been known as the Progress Association and the Village Association) “water access” has been a recurring issue of concern.

Both the Walter Burley Griffin original and Henry F Halloran's subsequent early 20th century designs for "Port Stephens City" included multiple public jetties. Boat ramps in the early 20th century were not, of course, a consideration....