Whitehead developed in size and population during the early 1600s, the locality was then known then as Kinbane (White Head),  a name descriptive of the limestone headland which is a dominant feature in contrast to the dark basalt of Black Head at the other end of the bay. The largest development came with advent of the railway and objectives by the Belfast & Northern Counties Railway General Manager Edward John Cotton and Chief Engineer Berkeley Deane Wise to make Whitehead an excursion town.