Shell-lime manufacture occurred in the early days of European settlement at Shellharbour. In the mid 19th century, masses of shells on beach foreshores were collected and burnt to make lime for building mortar. The mortar was used in the construction of many local public buildings and some was transported to Sydney to be sold.

The industry ended, when the last shells were collected some 50 years later, however, the remaining shell grit left on beaches at Warilla, Shellharbour and Bass Point was collected right up until the 1950s, and sold to poultry farms for chicken feed. Don Lowe bought the rights to shell grit. He had 10 or 12 men working full time collecting the grit with sieves, and horses and carts. Shell grit was bagged and trucked to Sydney; sometimes, five or six truckloads per week went to Sydney.

Much of the shell deposits were Aboriginal middens that had been deposited over thousands of years.