Cape Jervis is at the junction of Kaurna and Ngarrindjeri ancestral lands. The name 'Parewarangk', thought to be a Ngarrindjeri adaptation of the Kaurna name 'Pariwarangga', is possibly an Aboriginal name for Cape Jervis. Nicholas Baudin named the Cape Jervis headland "Cap D'Alembert" and "Cap De La Secheresse". Matthew Flinders named it after John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent, on 23 March 1802 and it is this name which has survived.

An early settler was Frederick Ransford who came to South Australia in 1840 and by 1846 was leasing land in this area. Ransford gradually increased his property and built a stone house for himself and his family and it became known as Cape Jervis Station, now a caravan park. A Ferry terminal here marks the closest point of the mainland to Kangaroo Island.