[5] According to James Battye, Stirling selected 52 square kilometres (12,800 acres) known as Wellington Location 50A and established the Harvey River Settlement.

The only improvement he made to the land, as far as is known, was the erection of a hunting lodge near the present town of Harvey, known as "The Hut", featuring a shingled roof, jarrah walls and hexagonal paving blocks.

Stirling called the area around the town of Harvey "Korijekup", using the Noongar name meaning "place of the red-tailed black cockatoo".

In 1863, a road was gazetted from Pinjarra to Brunswick Junction, which was built by convicts between 1864 and 1876 - it was called the "foothills route" and later became the South Western Highway.

[8] In 2010, Harvey gained national attention when 19-year-old Jessica Moloney became a finalist in the popular Fox8 show Australia's Next Top Model.

In 2015 Harvey received a new war memorial with detailed casualty counts and information relevant to major Australian engagements.

[11] On 7 January 2016 the residents of the town were urged to evacuate immediately by Western Australia's Department of Fire and Emergency Services due to an approaching bushfire.

Harvey station is located on the South Western Railway and served by Transwa's twice daily Australind service from Perth to Bunbury.

Transwa and South West Coachlines run daily bus service between Perth, Mandurah and Bunbury via Forrest Highway, and have stops in Harvey Intersection near Forestry Road, between Mylaup and Binningup.