Settlement of the area began in the early 19th century and by 1820, it was populated by people from Scotland and the north of Ireland.

In 1836, the Ormstown Post Office opened, and in 1846, the Catholic parish was established under the name Saint-Malachie-d'Ormstown, in honour of Saint Malachy.

[1] In the 1950s, Ormstown became the site of a significant microwave radio relay station, part of the Trans Canada Telephone System.

Initially, the system passed through the major cities of Canada via towers located on top of downtown telephone buildings.

Subsequently, concerns were expressed that a disaster affecting any of those city cores, such as a war or uprising, would result in an interruption of the continuity of the transcontinental communications system.

The Ormstown facility was the bypass point for Montreal, but had further significance as it also included a link to the AT&T Long Lines TD2 microwave system in the United States.