A number of stone axe heads have been found in the Harkaway area in a location known as "Bald Hill", and some reports say that a corroboree was held there in 1858.

[3] However, by 1840, reduction of their hunting grounds, draining of the swamps and introduction of European diseases such as smallpox and measles effectively ended their ability to maintain a traditional lifestyle.

They initially bought land at Thomastown with the intention of subdividing a German settlement, but fresh from trying their luck at the Bendigo goldfields, found the fertile land at Harkaway south of King Road (originally Koenig Road, built as a stock route to water the cattle) and settled there instead.

[6] The settlers also constructed a number of other buildings – a Lutheran church (1869), the belfry of which is still intact and is located on Hessell Road; a single-room brick school (1876), a post office and a community hall (1909).

In 2023, Harkaway Primary School had an enrolment of 116 students, 58 female and 58 male,[7] a community hall, tennis courts and numerous walking and equestrian trails.