In 1796, some shipwrecked fishermen landed on the coast at The Entrance, thus marking the beginning of recorded European interest in the area. These seamen were safely guided most of the way to Sydney by some of the local Aborigines and upon their return they reported the existence of a white woman living amongst the Aboriginal peoples. A search party was duly sent out and it was this group of people who were the first Europeans to see Tuggarah Lake.

Henry Holden became the first European to settle in the area when he took up 260 hectares of land at Picnic Point in 1828. Also in the late 1820s, a group of Chinese fishermen set up a base at a place now known as Toowoon Bay.

In 1889, the rail link from Sydney to Newcastle was completed and the first tourists began to visit the area. In the early 1890s a holiday camp began operating at Toowoon Bay and in 1895, the first guesthouse opened at North Entrance.

Development of the area, however, was only gradual. A post office opened in 1911 under the name 'The Entrance' and thus the town’s name was selected. It refers to the slender channel that connects Tuggerah Lake to the ocean.

It wasn’t until 1915 that the first school opened its doors and 1926 when the first church was constructed. Tourism continued to increase throughout the 20th century, with the construction of the freeway in the 1960s really boosting visitor numbers to The Entrance.