The suburb was laid out by P. B. Coglin in 1855 on land he owned, and named for John Hector (c. 1788 – 31 July 1863), accountant of the Savings Bank of South Australia.
[2] The first house in Hectorville was built by Price Maurice in 1849 next to Fourth Creek.
[4] Hectorville's original Catholic parish church was built in 1863.
[5] Thomas Binns Robson purchased 20 acres (8.1 ha) of land at Hectorville, naming it "Ellythorp" and established extensive orchards and vineyards for fresh and dried fruit production.
[6] On 29 April 2011, Hectorville was the scene of the 2011 Hectorville siege, in which a gunman shot dead three members of a family, as well as wounding two police officers, one critically.