Coffs Harbour was originally the home of the Gumbaynggirr tribe. The name was changed by Captain John Korff who was seeking safety from the storm that prevented him from entering the river at Urunga in 1847 and called the place "Korffs Harbour". A spelling mistake when it was gazetted led to the name Coffs Harbour being recorded.
During the 1870's and 1880's Europeans settled the area to log cedar. The first school opened in 1885. The timber industry thrived as a result of the completion of the
Coffs Harbour Jetty in 1892 and the building of many timber mills. The railway arrived in 1915 and that led to decline in shops using the jetty. The oldest buildings are to be found on the "Jetty Strip" along Harbour Drive.
The northern breakwater that linked Coffs Harbour and Muttonbird Island was started in 1915 and completed in 1935. In the 1970's Coffs Harbour was the home of an active fishing fleet which still continues today.
Bananas were found to grow well in the region and led to tha arrival of many Indian migrants who formed a Sikh community and built the Sikh Temple at
Woolgoolga.
During World War 2 Coffs Harbour was used as military operations base to defend Australia from an invasion. A bunker was built in 1943 and now named City Hill and now a gallery housing the Coffs Cartoon Collection.
