Gameygal country until Europeans arrived, the area that became Blakehurst was part of huge grants given to the Townson brothers before 1810, and exploited for timber, charcoal, lime and soda, before farming began. As roads and transport improved in the mid-nineteenth century, settlement moved south. Chinese market gardeners farmed land in Blakehurst, and shipbuilding took place along the waterfront. The township grew fast in the early twentieth century, becoming a residential suburb.
