The name Mataranka means "home of the snake" in the Yangmanic language of the Aboriginal people who inhabit the area.

[citation needed] The name was given to a sheep farm around 1915 by John A. Gilruth, who was the Administrator of the Northern Territory at that time.

[citation needed] The locality of Mataranka, which include the town and surrounding land were re-gazetted on 4 April 2007.

The 10th Australian Advanced Ordnance workshops camped in buildings made from paper bark trees and serviced wrecked and damaged vehicles.

[10] The army, through the Native Affairs Branch, employed Aboriginal men to perform key roles throughout the Northern Territory and these gangs completed many large scale infrastructure projects and were instrumental to the war effort.