The Australian botanist, Allan Cunningham, landed at Snug Cove in December 1817 so that he could collect botanical specimens from the district.

Nearby they built a small slab and bark hut, the first-known building erected at Eden.

Sketches of the hut were made by Sir Oswald Brierly in 1842 and by Captain Owen Stanley from HMS Rattlesnake in 1843.

[8] The graziers from the Monaro district inland from Twofold Bay were seeking a better way to transport their cattle to Hobart, Tasmania.

Thus, in 1834, the Home Government authorised the captain of HMS Alligator to seek an appropriate site for a settlement on Twofold Bay.

[10] Eventually the area for the proposed town, to be called Eden, was surveyed in 1842 by Mr Thomas Townsend, the Government Surveyor.

Other streets were named after Lieutenant Flinders, George Bass, Queen Victoria and her consort, Prince Albert.

The land was sold to Thomas Aspinall, Benjamin Boyd, S. Clinton, Lewes Gordon, W. Hirst, James Kirwan, J.P. Robinson and T.A.

For a few hectic months hundreds of gold seekers landed at Eden, replenished their supplies then headed for Kiandra.

Prior to that the business had expanded to include the shipping of cattle to South Australia, Queensland and to New Zealand.

2SEA FM is a not-for-profit community radio station that relies on volunteers to provide programming, and sponsors for the finance to be able to go to air.

However, the County of Auckland was not considered to be within the bounds of the Colony of New South Wales until many years after the settlement of Eden commenced.

It is within the federal electorate of Eden-Monaro, which has for a long time been a key marginal seat, resulting in significant focus by the media and political parties during election campaigns.

These are mainly related to the tourist industry and include a wide variety of accommodation, places to eat and entertainment, especially fishing and sailing.

[3] As well, cruises of Twofold Bay and for whale-watching leave the Eden Wharf located in Snug Cove.

Tourism contributes AU$180 million yearly to the economy of the shire, which includes Bega and several other towns.

Whaling played a very important role in the town's economy for over 100 years before its decline in the area in the 1920s and its end in 1930.