Elyard’s boat shed was on the south bank of the river and adjacent to the eastern side of the old bridge. They were used by Elyard as a base for his launches.

They continued to be used for boat hire for many years under various owners. In more recent times the buildings have been modified and extended to house a riverside restaurant. 

While the precise location of Elyard’s boat building yard isn’t uncertain, it is believed to have been a short distance east of the present Nowra wharf.

Walter Elyard built a number of vessels at this yard, including the ketch Milliwa in 1877 and Formosa in 1879. 

Kemp’s Wharf was a substantial private wharf adjacent to Kemp’s store, about 250 metres east of Ferry Lane. The store was one of a number of buildings strung along the river between Nowra and Terara. 

The steamer wharf in Bomaderry was the town’s second wharf and was on the eastern side of the bridge adjacent to the Fish Cooperative.

Little remains of the original wharf but photographs show that it accommodated small sea-going steamers like the Coomonderry. 

The public wharf in Nowra was built following representations by the local community. The Minister for Works sanctioned the building of the wharf in 1879 on the condition it would be downstream of the new bridge. 

Construction started some time later but completion was delayed for a number of years due to lack of finance.

In 1881 the sum of 27 pounds and a further sum of 20 pounds in 1882 were expanded. 

Complaints were raised in Parliament in 1884 that the wharf had been partially funded for two years but could not be used resulted in a Ministerial promise that funds would be provided “without delay”. 

This promise was kept as the wharf was finished that year at a cost of 472 pounds.

Ongoing problems with the Terara wharf led to the ISN Co transferring its operations to Nowra where it built a large shed.

Despite competition from rail, steamers continued to bring cargo to the Nowra wharf up to the start of World War 2.