Ownership of area was first as a grant of 1,200 acres (485 hectares) to army officer John Horsley in 1821. The grant was situated on the southern shores of Lake Illawarra and known as the 'Oak Flats Run'. The land was used to run cattle in the area. Development of Oak Flats as a suburb began in 1925 with the Lake Illawarra Township Estate as the centre, followed by the Kembla Vista and Panorama Estates. Economic Depression of the 1930s coupled with the onset of WWII, slowed development. Post WWII migration brought immigrants predominantly Dutch, and German to Oak Flats, and the town began to develop rapidly.