[1] The harbour was named in honour of Scottish Major General Lachlan Macquarie, the fifth Colonial Governor of New South Wales.

[4] Surveyor-General Oxley of New South Wales in March 1820 battled with the seas around the heads and Hells Gates.

The narrow entrance to Macquarie Harbour has hazardous tidal currents and is called Hell's Gates.

The sheer volume of fresh water that pours into the Harbour through the rivers, combined with the narrow exit result in barometric tides.

The Mount Lyell Remediation and Research and Demonstration Program was carried out by the office of Supervising Scientist and the Tasmanian Department of Environment and Land Management over the following two years.

Later the small port of Strahan was developed on the shores of Macquarie Harbour to support the nearby mining settlements, mainly Queenstown.

Another port was developed on the south east section of the harbour in Kelly Basin along with townsite of Pillinger.

The West Coast Wilderness Railway takes part of the northeastern shore of the Harbour, before turning inland at the mouth of the King River.

Boats take tourists from Strahan to Hell's Gates and Macquarie Heads, Sarah Island and up the lower reaches of the Gordon River.