Aboriginal people who lived in this area left rock engravings along the coast and high points. The Jenkins family consolidated grants and purchases and in the 1880s Elizabeth Jenkins passed her land to the Salvation Army, delaying town development until the Salvation Army sold land in the 1910s. Dee Why grew fast after World War II, with flats and units, and some industry established. The beach, lagoon and Stony Range Botanic Garden remain attractions.