The district in which Rappville is situated was initially developed by European settlers for cattle grazing (for example the very extensive Wooroowoolga Station) and forestry (first, cedar getting, then other species) from the 1840s onwards; to these rural industries was added dairying, which became an important component from the 1860s for almost the next 100 years.

[2] Initially, rural products were transported by road and the network of navigable rivers, however in 1903 the small but growing North Coast railway line reached Casino and two years later was extended south to Grafton.

In the same year, Rapp opened his new Commercial Hotel, designed by the local architectural firm of Popplewell and Sykes, on a site opposite the small Rappville Railway Station.

[8] In 1997, a community workshop/discussion session in the village as input to the North East New South Wales Regional Forest Agreement identified additional factors contributing to population decline since the 1980s including the increased difficulty of making a living from cattle grazing, the closure of nearby cattle yards and small timber mills, the loss of railway/sleeper workers following the closure of a local railway sleeper yard in 1987, and the loss of customers visiting the pub following the introduction of new drink-driving laws; however this was partially offset by the establishment of commercial tea tree plantations in the region as well as a modest influx of newcomers from the city attracted by cheap land prices in the area.

[13] Commercial cultivation of the local tea tree plant, Melaleuca alternifolia, which is native to the area and thrives in the flat, seasonally swampy habitat that surrounds Rappville, is now very successful.

[16] In October 2019 the village was devastated as a destructive bushfire that started in Busbys Flat raced through the residential area, leading to the loss of at least 15 houses although no lives were believed to have been lost.

The fire also resulted in significant damage to the Sydney-Brisbane railway line, loss of local power and telecommunications infrastructure, and closure of adjacent highways to traffic in several places.