[2] The first European to visit the site of Gregory was the explorer George Grey, who camped on the eastern edge of Hutt Lagoon on 4 April 1839 while on his second disastrous expedition along the Western Australian coast.

[8][9] A major employer was Captain William Ayshford Sanford who, as magistrate for the region and the Superintendent of Convicts, built an impressive homestead alongside Lynton.

[9] On 27 January 1943 the Japanese submarine I-165, while planning to bombard the nearby port of Geraldton, observed three aircraft and what was believed to be a destroyer and aborted the attack.

On the following night the submarine bombarded Port Gregory with about ten 100-mm (3.9-inch) shells from her deck gun, in the belief that a crayfish cannery was an ammunition factory.

These include trading and whaling vessels and the screw steamer SS Xantho, which sank while loaded with lead ore from the Geraldine mine.