Written history of the Discovery Coast is one of the oldest in Australia.

Lieutenant James Cook and the members of HMS Bark Endeavour landed on Australian shores at Botany Bay on 29 April 1770 and less than a month later on 23 May 1770 they landed for the second time at what is now called Town of 1770 on the Discovery Coast.

When Cook’s party stepped ashore they noted evidence of Aboriginal fires and whilst those on board saw a group of about 20 Aboriginals in the distant the shore party did not make contact with the local Gooreng Gooreng tribe. Cook remarked in his journal on the shoaly nature of the bay, the type of country, the natives’ habits and lifestyle and the huge bustard bird which was shot for the evening meal. Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, the botanists on board the Endeavour collected many specimens which are today held in the British Museum. They wrote enthusiastically of their trip ashore.

Captain Matthew Flinders was the second celebrated navigator to sail the Discovery Coast and on 2 August 1802 he named “Round Hill”. By the early 1850’s sheep and cattle farmers began to make their way into the inland regions of the Discovery Coast and the towns of Rosedale, Miriam Vale and Bororen were established to cater for the farming communities needs. A railway line was built and the area thrived.

Turkey Beach to the north was established as a sheep farm in the early 1860’s while Wartburg on Baffle Creek was settled from 1908 by German migrants. Settlement on Bustard Bay commenced with the erection of the lighthouse which became operational from June 1868 soon followed by a settlement and sawmill at Eurimbula Creek in 1870.

The township of Agnes Water has grown up on land which was leased for the first time in 1878 by the Clowes family. The Clowes built a homestead and large stockyards close to Agnes Water surf beach where there was a permanent freshwater lagoon. Daniel and Rachel Clowes are buried under the shade of the Moreton Bay fig tree in Tom Jeffery Memorial Park.

The name Agnes Water most probably came from the schooner Agnes which disappeared in the vicinity in 1873. Whilst Daniel Clowes had a daughter Agnes, it is believed the name Agnes Water was in use before the Clowes settled on the lease.

By 1894 Agnes Water had become a popular venue for the teamsters and cutters working in the sawmills which had been established nearby. There were parties where buggies were driven onto the beach and horse races and other sporting events were held. T.C. Jeffery bought the freehold of Agnes Water in 1945 and some years later he added amenities including toilets, showers, fresh water, petrol, gas and some shacks for rental.  There was no phone but there was a two-way radio at Town of 1770. Holiday makers came for the seven kilometres of clean firm white beach, surfing, fishing and the generally wonderful lifestyle.

From about 1933 hardy holiday makers began to take up allotments and build holiday houses at Round Hill which was renamed Seventeen-seventy in 1936. Many of them were professional men and their families from as far away as Melbourne. They travelled over some of the worst roads in Australia, had to carry in all their supplies, and would holiday for weeks in almost complete isolation.

Some of the folk who currently live in Agnes Water and Town of 1770 came here as children to their parents’ shacks.