The town takes its name from the 'One Tree Hill Inn' (licensed in 1851), for many years the meeting place of the District Council of Munno Para East.

There were many such shelter trees in use by the Kaurna and Peramangk as late as the 1840s, and evidence exists that they hunted and gathered in the woodlands and grasslands for many generations prior to European settlement.

Unfortunately, the community declined soon after European settlement, and most of what we know about them today comes from the few artifacts and sparse archaeological evidence that they left behind.

[citation needed] Europeans settled the area in the early 1840s, and the township commenced in 1851 with the building of the One Tree Hill Inn.

A post office and general store were built in 1858 which featured a large cellar where produce including local wine was sold.

In 1906, the Institute, which cost about £600, was built across the road from the post office, and became a town meeting place and recreation centre, which was expanded considerably in 1978.