The bay was named by the Methodist missionary George Brown for his benefactor, the Tasmanian philanthropist, Henry Reed.

Mapping from the Second World War shows the Powell River as a tributary of the Mevelo[4][7] with the confluence approximately 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) inland from the mouth.

[8] However, the Danish explorer and anthropologist, Richard Parkinson, indicates that the main stream identified herein as the Mavelo, is the Powell and that it is otherwise known as the Mävlu.

[4][9][10] Cartography from the Second World War show that the two river systems enter the bay nearby each other but at distinctly different points.

[11] Several coconut palm plantations for harvesting copra had been developed around the bay prior to the Second World War – at Tol,[12] Waitavalo[13] and Kalai.

The report also lists Lamarien and Marupa Mission as minor population centres (small villages) in the immediate vicinity.

According to Parkinson, the Gaktei tribal group, originally from the mountains of the Gazelle isthmus, were in a state of "feud" with the Sulka people.

[9] The Linguist, Peter Lanyon-Orgill, describes the Sulka language as Papuan in origin and the Gaktei as being Melonesian and associated with Henry Reid Bay.

Colonel Masao Kusunose, commanding the 144th Regiment, was interrogated by war crimes investigators at Tokyo after the surrender of Japan.

[27][24] In May 1987, a memorial consisting of a rock cairn and brass plaque, was erected at Tol by members of the 3rd Brigade of the Australian Army.

[28] With a base area secured at Jacquinot Bay, the Australian 6th Brigade commenced operations toward the northerly end of the Gazelle isthmus to establish a containment line there.