Venus BayIt is thought that the bay was named after the two-masted schooner Venus' that traded around the Eyre Peninsula coastline in the mid 1850s.
A far more romantic notion is the bay was named after the Roman goddess of beauty and love. It is the latter version which is promoted by the locals and visitors to the region.
The town was established after a
whaling station was built in the 1820’s, and for twenty years it existed as no more than a
shop, hotel and Police Station. The focus of the town soon turned to Agriculture as the area was opened up in the 1840’s.. The township was abandoned by in the 1870’s but was somewhat revitalised in the 1920s when it became a base for a Commercial fishing operation.
Today it is a popular tourist destination with good fishing and spectacular scenery.