The Griquas were forced to travel over the Drakensberg into a region earlier devastated by the great Zulu King, Shaka—thus its name "Nomansland".

Every male Griqua who settled in East Griqualand was able to secure a 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) farm, but most of them sold their land cheaply to white settlers and squandered their money.

The Rev William Dower in his 1902 book The Early Annals of Kokstad describes in great detail how cheaply the Griqua gave their farms away.

[2] When, in 1869, the Reverend William Dower was asked by the Griqua to establish a mission, he agreed on condition that they resettle in a more suitable place on the banks of the Mzimhlava river.

Two prominent European settlers George Brisley and Donald Strachan played a major role in the early development of Kokstad and East Griqualand: their trading store, Strachan and Co, in 1874 introduced South Africa's first indigenous currency—a set of trade tokens which circulated across a wide region, covering an area the size of Ireland.

The area is popular for its many rivers and dams that provide ample opportunity for trout fishing and hiking possibilities.

In addition to supplying drinking water to the town, the Crystal Spring Dam has become an attraction for both the Kokstad residents, and tourists to the area.

There are three rural schemes located in nearby Swartberg, Franklin and Kransdraai, which meet the RDP level of service.

Some of the main schooling institutions are as follows: Kokstad also has two main hospitals that service the surrounding areas: By 1931, the Kokstad municipal council had assumed a pseudo-heraldic "coat of arms" depicting a landscape with Mount Currie in the background, ears of wheat, and a tree, and the motto Concilio et animis.

The arms were : Per fess Gules and Or, in chief, dexter a Griqua hunter statant holding in his dexter hand a slain buck and in his sinister hand a rifle, sinister a lion statant, all Or; in base, below a yoke the barrel of a cannon palewise, all Sable; the whole within a bordure compony of 40 pieces Argent and Sable.

In layman's terms, the shield was divided horizontally into red and gold, the upper half depicting a Griqua hunter holding a slain buck and a rifle and facing a lion, and the lower half a yoke above an upright black cannon barrel, the whole design surrounded by a border divided into forty sections alternately silver and black.

The crest was a cock's head issuing from a golden eastern crown, and the motto was Pro rege lege et grege.