The settlement is unusual for the district being supported by agriculture rather than the mining industry which is common in other towns.

In 1944, black South Africans were confined to a segregated enclave in southern Hennenman.

During apartheid, this area was cleared by order of the government and nearly all then-residents relocated to a new township some fifteen kilometres away, Vergenoeg (Afrikaans for "contentment", now Phomolong).

The council later assumed a coat of arms, and registered it with the Orange Free State Provincial Administration in January 1958.

[2] The arms were: Vert, three barrulets or between in chief a ripe mealie cob proper between two bezants and in base a cogwheel of the second, i.e. a green shield displaying a mealie cob between two golden discs at the top, three horizontal golden lines across the middle, and a golden cogwheel at the bottom