It was established in the 1850s and is thought to have been named after the Governor of New South Wales, Sir William Thomas Denison.

In its heyday, Denison Town consisted of an inn,[3] post office,[4] church and cemetery,[5] and was the occasional venue for sittings of the Local Court.

[6] Local industries included the farming of wheat, sheep and cattle,[7] alongside sporadic prospecting for silver ore.[8] In 1861 the inn, named the Denison Hotel, was the scene of an attempted robbery by bushrangers who had carried out previous attacks around Mudgee.

The innkeeper and patrons fought off the robbers, but the incident led to calls for a permanent police presence in the town.

Newspaper reports from the 1930s indicated that the cemetery, which contained around 50 graves, was neglected and used for grazing by local livestock.