[5] The Karangahape Peninsula is formed from volcanic-derived sandstones and siltstones, which were laid down during the Otaian age in the Lower Miocene, between 21.7 and 18.7 million years ago.

[6] Cornwallis was known in pre-colonial times by Tāmaki Māori as Karangahape,[7] named after the tohunga of the Tainui waka[4] and meaning "Hape's chant of welcome".

Karangahape was a significant coastal settlement, part of the traditional rohe of the Te Kawerau ā Maki iwi,[8] and alongside nearby Parau, Laingholm and Waima, was an important link facilitating trade between the Waitakere Ranges and the Manukau Harbour.

[7] The traditional trail leading from the peninsula to central Auckland was also named after Hape, becoming the namesake of Karangahape Road.

[3] In 1836 Mitchell moved to the peninsula as the first permanent European resident in Auckland, however after establishing his timber mill, drowned months later.

[3] In May 1842 the steam sawmill arrived in Cornwallis, and a hotel named The Bird in the Hand (West Auckland's first) opened at the township to service the timber milling and shipping industries.

[3] In 1844, Lachlan McLachlan, frustrated at the company's lack of support for the settlers, challenged Sinclair to a duel, later confronting him in his home and beating him with a horsewhip.

[3] Later that year, the colonial government granted the settlers a quarter of the land originally bought by Symonds, taken from Crown holdings elsewhere in the region.

[12] In 1860 the Crown reduced the size of the company's land holdings to 1,927 acres around the Karangahape Peninsula, after which Heale sold the steam mill boiler for use in the copper mine on Kawau Island.

[3] In February 1863 HMS Orpheus ran aground at a sandbar in the mouth of the Manukau Harbour, killing many of the sailors.

[13] While ownership of the land was still disputed,[11] a timber mill run by Matthew Roe operated out of the Kakamatua Inlet in the 1860s/1870s.

[17][19] In April 1969, the Auckland City Council ended the rental agreement with the community, leading to legal disputes with the residents.