Point Vernon is a coastal suburb of Hervey Bay, 35 km north of Maryborough. It was named in 1861 after Captain Charles Vernon, commander of HMS Cordelia which had conveyed Governor Bowen to Queensland in 1859.
Also known as Polson, Point Vernon is immediately west of Pialba, the main commercial centre of Hervey Bay. The name Polson came about from a cemetery-land donor, also buried there in 1887. There are also at least 55 unmarked graves of South Sea Islanders buried in the Polson Cemetery and an elaborate monument marks the event. A hotel was opened in 1892, near the present boundary between Point Vernon and Pialba.
Polson or Point Vernon was outside the corridor of development that followed the Maryborough to Pialba railway line (1896), and just 43 people were counted there in the 1921 census. A post office directory in 1949, however, recorded a Point Vernon storekeeper, and the early postwar population numbered over 150.
The east side of Point Vernon has a continuous beach extending from Pialba, and the northern side has an open beach and the protected Gatakers Bay. An esplanade, foreshore reserve and bike path run along the shorelines. There are two nursing homes, which partly account for the median age of residents in the 2011 census being 45 years, eight years more than the median for Australia.
There are two caravan/holiday parks, boat ramps and an Anglican church. Point Vernon's census populations have been:
| Census Date | Population |
|---|---|
| 1921 | 43 |
| 1933 | 95 |
| 1947 | 165 |
| 2006 | 5053 |
| 2011 | 5691 |
Pialba entry
