The Stenhouse Bay jetty was used for the transport of gypsum by sea from the workings at Inneston on the lower Yorke Peninsula. It was built in 1913 by the Permasite Company to facilitate the shipment of gypsum from its workings at nearby Inneston Lake. The original jetty was 164 metres long; the gypsum was taken in ore trucks operating on steel rails and utilising a cable and winch. Three years later a cutting was made through the cliffs to allow the trucks to run straight onto the jetty using a counterweight system.

The jetty was extended in 1930 to 206 metres, which remains its current length. The barque Hougomont was scuttled at Stenhouse Bay in 1933 to form a breakwater. Stenhouse Bay ceased operations as a port in 1972. Improved road conditions, the increasing size of ships and the smaller size of the gypsum deposits on the lower peninsula were all factors in this decision. The mining company Waratah Gypsum now operates out of the port of Thevenard on the west coast, where it mines the gypsum deposits at Lake MacDonnell.

Nelson, Keith Kitchener. The history of Marion Bay, Inneston and Stenhouse Bay, 1922-1939 [Warooka, S. Aust.: Warooka District Council], c1994

Collins, Neville C. The jetties of South Australia: past and present Woodside, S.A.: Neville Collins, 2005

Postcards: Stenhouse Bay

SA Memory Wooden walls and iron sides - South Australia's maritime history

State Library of South Australia: Mortlock Wing exhibitions. Wooden Walls and Iron Sides August 2004-