The name is adapted from "Kanya-owie", an Aboriginal word for "rock waterhole", and was associated with the Canowie Station pastoral lease.

[3] A school at Canowie Belt opened as "Yongala Blocks" in 1904 and closed in 1967.

The school had suffered early difficulties when it was found that the walls "cracked badly" after only ten weeks of usage.

[7] Canowie Belt Baptist Church opened in 1904, but has since closed.

[4] In 1911, the church reported that "the subject of baptism was not very prominent" in their meetings so as to have regard for non-Baptist parishioners in their area.