[2] Augusta was a summer holiday town for many during most of the twentieth century, but late in the 1990s many people chose to retire to the region for its cooler weather.

[4] Wardandi (often spelt Wadandi) traditional owners guided archaeological researchers to a spot on a granite outcrop near Flinders Bay which was excavated and reported on in 2021, revealing grooves and other signs that people ground stones to make tools here around 9,700 years ago.

In March of that year, a number of settlers, including John Molloy and members of the Bussell and Turner[9] families, had arrived at the Swan River Colony on board Warrior.

On their arrival the Lieutenant-Governor Captain James Stirling advised them that most of the good land near the Swan River had already been granted, and suggested that they form a new sub-colony in the vicinity of Cape Leeuwin.

[11] Augusta was a stopping place on the Busselton to Flinders Bay branch railway (now converted into a walking and cycling trail named the Wadandi Track[12][13]), which was government run from the 1920s to the 1950s.

In a three-day operation, co-ordinated by the Department of Conservation and Land Management, volunteers from around Western Australia, including forestry workers, wildlife officers, surfers and townsfolk, carried 96 of the whales on trucks to more sheltered waters.

The Augusta townsite now also includes the former separate Flinders Bay community at its southern end, where there had been a jetty, railway terminus, and whaling location.

The fire had already claimed 40,000 hectares (100,000 acres) before reaching the outskirts of East Augusta, but was later brought under control and no homes were destroyed.