Before European settlers arrived at Port Phillip, Aborigines resting after the stiff climb of Oliver's Hill, Frankston, and looking north along the bay would have viewed a long ribbon of sandy beach shaped vaguely like a boomerang.

The swampland with its dense growth of swamp tea-tree and other vegetation was covered for the most part by the waters from the Dandenong, Eumemmerring, and other smaller creeks, with a total catchment area of approximately 430 km2, with the present townships of Langwarrin, Cranbourne, Berwick, Belgrave, Ferntree Gully, Olinda, Lilydale, Croydon and Ringwood forming its perimeter.

The survey between the swamp and the sea resulted in Mr Callinan, the State's assistant surveyor, dividing the area into 18 allotments stretching from the Mordialloc Creek to the present Keast Park, Seaford.

The land was referred to as the "Allotments on the Long Beach", the first sales taking place at Semmell McCaul & Co's Auction Rooms at Collins Street, Melbourne, on 22 December 1865.

[4] The land sold on the swamp side was bought by Hugh Brown who built his home "Pine Vale" near the site of the Mordialloc High School which was part of his property.

[2] During the Great Depression, the Brotherhood of St Laurence built a settlement at Carrum Downs to provide food and shelter to suffering families.

[5] A small section of Carrum Downs is sometimes referred to by locals as "Botany Park", based on the name of a housing estate built during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

In the first major development of its type in the area, land was subdivided into generous lots between the southern and northern perimeters of Ballarto and Hall Roads.

Development was conducted by AV Jennings, which financed and built prominent signage reading 'Botany Park' on the corner of Ballarto Road and Lyrebird Drive.

In early 2015 development began at the eastern end of the shopping centre of a substantial extension housing a KMart specialty store.

The video was filmed in the carpark of the local Coles Supermarket, and was first shown in 2008 on the Australian reality TV show Highway Patrol.

[13] Since the state election on 29 November 2014, the suburb of Carrum Downs has been represented by Labor MP Sonya Kilkenny in Victoria's Legislative Assembly.