The western side of Marsden Bay is a coastal community called One Tree Point, and the eastern side is the industrial development of Marsden Point.

[3] The town of Marsden, situated where Marsden Point is now, was originally intended to be the commercial centre for the district, due to the access to deep water, and because it was closer to Auckland than the area which is now Whangārei.

The government purchased 200 acres (81 ha) on the point in the mid-1850s and laid it out in quarter-acre sections.

The development of the kauri gum industry changed the focus of settlement to Whangarei.

[4] The Marsden Point oil refinery was built in the 1960s and expanded in the 1980s.