Lonsdale was farmed from shortly after European settlement until the 1950s, when the South Australian Housing Trust acquired much of the land for industrial use.

Mobil's Port Stanvac Refinery and Chrysler's engine foundry were followed by many other manufacturing and service industries.

Port Stanvac Refinery and the Mitsubishi (formerly Chrysler) engine plant closed in 2004, with both sites remaining unused as of 2007.

The South Australian Government announced plans to build a seawater desalination plant at the site in 2007, to provide fresh water for Adelaide.

[9] The housing trust had purchased a large amount of land in the vicinity and portions of this were set aside for industrial use, with large firms like Chrysler and Sola Optical as well as the Port Stanvac Oil refinery moving in.