The heritage-listed former Quarantine Station is located on North Head and is one of the few facilities that operated in each state of Australia from the mid-to-late-1800s until the 1980s. From 1828, Spring Cove, on the western side of North Head, was used to quarantine new arrivals to Sydney to minimise the spread of communicable diseases such as cholera, smallpox and whooping cough, amongst other communicable diseases. In 1832, the whole area of North Head was set aside for a quarantine station. A permanent quarantine facility was set up in 1837 and continued to operate until 1984. The buildings and site was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999, the entire North Head site to the Australian National Heritage List on 12 May 2006, and now forms part of the Sydney Harbour National Park.