At its peak it became the largest grain-loading port in Australia, servicing large windjammers and sailing ships from Britain and Europe.

Many of the streets of Port Germein are named after these windjammers and sailing ships.

A master of an active trading steamer Ceres that ran between Port Adelaide and Stansbury, he is reputed to have discovered the inlet whilst exploring the coast in 1840.

Though there is some dispute as to whether it was John or his brother Samuel Germein who made the discovery. Samuel is said to have discovered the inlet whilst transporting supplies to the explorer Edward Eyre in 1840.

Whether it was John or Samuel it was the discovery of one member of the Germein family which resulted in the name of Port Germein.

In October 2000 Port Germein attracted national and world-wide attention when a nightly apparition of Jesus appeared on the wall of the local Caravan Park.

First spotted by local resident Shelly Brooks the vision appeared to show the face of Jesus Christ with beard, crown of thorns and piercing eyes. The image appeared for several months and attracted hundreds of visitors.

The apparition is believed to have resulted from the combination of a streetlight reflecting through a tree onto the Caravan Park wooden fence and said not to move no matter how windy it got.

At the time, the head of the local Catholic diocese, Father Arno Vermeeren, commented that the apparition “appears to have the resemblance of an image of Christ”. A bit of sceptic, he needed some convincing that the apparition was the result of a supernatural power. Many thought otherwise, leading to the local council committing to cease routine trimming of the tree for a time.

Integral to Port Germein’s role as a major transport hub, trains were used to move freight and people from the freight yards into the township and to ships moored at the jetty.