[1] Over the years, dredging and reclamation has created a single island, which is now a landscaped nature reserve, with a 2-kilometre (1.2 mi) walking path.

[2] The Noongar name for the area is Matagarup (meaning 'leg deep'), which has been retained for the single island after reclamation.

The first European to visit the Heirisson Island area was the Flemish explorer Willem de Vlamingh in January 1697.

[6] In the late-1940s plans were drawn for the development of an extensive sporting complex on the now singular island which was envisioned to feature an athletics stadium, an Olympic swimming pool, and 18 tennis courts; however the venture was dropped following a potential cost blowout.

[6] Other proposals for the island throughout the years include those for a motel, a golf course, a caravan park, and a cultural centre with museums and concert halls.

There were also plans to fill in the western channel of the Swan River and join the island to East Perth.

[6] In September 1984 the Government of Western Australia erected a statue of Aboriginal warrior Yagan on the island.

In 2012, the island was the site of a tent embassy, set up in February by Noongar people to raise community awareness about problems with a government plan to extinguish most of the native title land in the southwest of Western Australia that was recognised in 2006 by Justice Murray Wilcox of the Federal Court of Australia.