The area was popular with fishermen in the 1930s, and numerous boatsheds and shacks were built there, as well as a whaling station. A townsite was gazetted in the area in 1940, but it remained largely undeveloped until the late 1950s, when the postal district of Marmion was approved. At first, the only development in the area was the primary school, opened in 1956 as a two-teacher school and nicknamed "The Little School in the Bush", accessible only by a track until the mid-1970s. By 1961, the area west of Cliff Street was largely developed, and the Marmion Angling and Aquatic Club had been established. The rest of the suburb was developed between 1973 and 1976.