During the 1840s colonisers moving north from Pietermaritzburg crossed the Umgeni River just west of present-day Howick at the Alleman's Drift.

With the increase in traffic to the north, the Government decided to establish a village at the crossing, and purchased part of James Archbell's farm.

In November 1850, a proclamation appeared in the Natal Government Gazette, offering 36 village allotments on the Umgeni Waterfall Drift for sale.

In choosing a name for the new town, Government officials decided to honour their Secretary of State for the Colonies in London.

[3] Evidence exists that a John Goodman Household flew a self made glider in 1871 and again in 1875 on the outskirts of Howick, close to Karkloof.

The Umgeni Valley Ranch or Nature Reserve was established in the 1970s on the then outskirts of Howick by the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA).

The nature reserve consists largely of the deep valley cut by the Mngeni River below the Howick Falls into the surrounding sandstone.