Before British colonisation of South Australia, the Kaurna people occupied the land from the Adelaide plains and southwards down the western side of the Fleurieu Peninsula.

There was a camp at Aldinga known as Camp Coortandillah, and Kaurna people were present living in the Aldinga Scrub until the 1870s, when Bishop Augustus Short sent the remaining people to the mission at Poonindie, thus ending their occupation of the area.

The layout of the town in circa 1857 is attributed to Lewis Fidge, a local farmer.

However, the town survived due to its location on the Old Coach Road which continues south to towns along the east coast of Gulf St Vincent as part of what is now called the Main South Road.

[10] The bands Another's Life, The Fall of Troy, I Killed The Prom Queen and Spirit of Alondray come from Aldinga.