In 1842 permanent settlement began as loggers, sawyers and millers moved into the area drawn to the forest by the massive stands of mature cedars (Toona australis) which stretched from the Coomera to the Tweed River.

[1] Surveyor Dixon had hoped that the "boat passage" at the mouth of the Broadwater might serve as an alternative port of entry to Moreton Bay.

By 1862, however, Colonial Portmaster, George Poynter Heath considered that the boat passage, as it was known, could not be used as such due to the heavy surf breaking across the entrance when the wind blew on shore.

In 1946 Humphreys moved to Southport where he established a marine engineering service for the growing number of boatsmen and women visiting the town.

[1] Humphreys was able to obtain the rights to a temporary lease (or at least permission) from the Southport Town Council at the "Boat Basin" to beach his barges and to service private yachts.

Work had commenced on a two-storey fibro building by 1955, with the first floor verandah 10 feet (3.0 m) above ground level, fronting a wooden landing.

By April 1965, when Humphreys successfully applied for a thirty-year special lease (SL 29252) on the site, he had prepared a concrete and brick foundation for the construction of extensions.

Both the yacht club and Humphreys' slipway attracted an ever-increasing number of private boats to the Basin, and eventually influenced the marina developments on the Spit in the 1980s.

Humphreys boat shed became something of an institution amongst local and visiting "boaties" and the business gained an enviable reputation for quality service.

In an area which has undergone immense change since the Second World War, the Southport Yacht Club and Humphreys boat shed and slipway are direct links with the past, surviving as now rare reminders of one of the earliest activities which first brought tourists to the Gold Coast 130 years ago.

[5] However, claims persisted that the demolition was to facilitate the redevelopment of the land, given the ongoing proposal to establish a cruise ship terminal in that area.

[6] Located at the northern end of the Spit, Main Beach, Gold Coast, Humphreys boat shed was a two storeyed timber-framed building with a central slipway.

Humphreys Boat Shed and Slipway are significant as a direct link with the past, surviving as reminders of one of the earliest activities which first brought tourists to the Gold Coast 130 years ago.

[1] Humphreys Boat Shed has been well maintained and still demonstrates the principal characteristics of a marine workshop: concrete slipway; timber rafters pitched steep from the ceiling joists of the original building in order to create a larger, open space; and its location along the Spit.

[1] With its marine setting and the landmark quality of the two-storey structure, Humphreys Boat Shed is important due to its aesthetic significance.