It was established in 1839 as a farming community by James Turnbull Thomson, who built the first hotel.
The town soon grew to incorporate two once adjoining towns: Gilleston (named for Osmond Gilles) and Blythetown, named for James Blythe, another Scottish settler.
In the past it was the junction for a branch line that ran up the Onkaparinga Valley and beyond to Birdwood and Mount Pleasant.
One of the larger businesses in the town is a long-established hardware store, now part of the Mitre 10 chain.
Peramangk and Kaurna peoples are the Traditional Custodians of the Adelaide Hills.