The name Nunawading, thought to be derived from an Aboriginal word meaning either "battlefield" or "ceremonial ground",[3] was initially applied to a vast area which now incorporates Box Hill, Blackburn, Mitcham, Forest Hill and Vermont.

The opening of the Tunstall railway station contributed to the growth of brick and clay industries, with orchards soon following.

The period following World War II saw a housing boom in the area, as residential blocks began to replace orchards.

The City of Whitehorse has named this strip the Mega Mile, in an attempt to provide brand recognition for retailers.

A large Seventh-day Adventist campus exists on Central Road, including a church, church offices, a retail book shop, Coronella Retirement Village and the coeducational Nunawading Christian College (primary and secondary).

The suburb was formerly home to the Winlaton Youth Training Centre, the Wobbies World amusement park, and the original Melbourne studios of Network 10 television, where the soap opera Neighbours was and still is filmed.

The southern and northern areas of Nunawading are now more unified, with better access to the Eastern Freeway, which runs along the north the suburb.

The area has an Association Football team, Nunawading City FC, that competes in NPL2 Victoria.

Competing in the Box Hill Reporter District Cricket Association, the club holds the record number of premierships in the competition and has been the breeding ground of many prominent Australian cricketers, including the Victorian and Tasmanian seam bowler David Saker, after whose ancestors the club's main ground is named.