After the ship reached the shore, on 17 January 1837 some of its sailors deserted, intending to remain behind in South Australia, and took refuge in the hills in the Coromandel Valley region.

Adjacent to the school is the original St John's Anglican Church, built with local stone.

The parish at various times in the last century included the rural areas from Meadows in the South to Belair in the north.

[6] An important business in the early days was Alex Murray & Son's jam and biscuit factory, which closed around 1902.

The (now closed) Coromandel Valley Post Office first opened on 10 July 1850,[7] for a time designated "West Sturt".