[9] The first documented British explorers to enter the region were Sir Thomas Mitchell and Edmund Kennedy on their 1846 expedition.

Mitchell named a nearby hill Mount Abundance due to the rich plains he encountered around what is now Roma.

After initial friendly communication, hostilities arose with Kennedy's men dispersing a group of Mandandanji after they tried to burn down the explorer's encampment.

[10] When Mitchell returned to Sydney from his expedition, he encouraged his friend and head colonial government bureaucrat, William Macpherson, to take up land on the Fitzroy Downs.

In late 1848, Macpherson had several skirmishes with Aboriginal people around Bungil Creek, killing an indeterminate number.

By April 1849 the Mandandanji had killed seven of Macpherson's stockmen, and the local Crown Lands Commissioner, John Durbin, with his contingent of mounted Border Police troopers was called in to give armed assistance.

[11][15][16][17][18][19] Upon their exit, Macpherson and Durbin requested the government to mobilise the newly formed Native Police force to eliminate Aboriginal resistance in the region.

Subsequently, in July 1849, Frederick Walker led his Native Police troopers against the "Fitzroy Downs blacks", shooting many during a large skirmish.

In late 1850, the Mandandanji regrouped to attack Paddy McEnroe who had attempted to re-establish the Mount Abundance pastoral station.

Roderick Mitchell, the local Crown Lands Commissioner who had replaced Durbin, led a reprisal raid consisting of his police troopers and nearby squatter colonists, which recovered the cattle and killed 13 Aborigines.

[11] In 1851, a large Native Police barracks was established at nearby Wondai Gumbal which housed up to 35 troopers.

These troopers under officers George Fulford, James Skelton and Richard Dempster, conducted several patrols of the Mount Abundance area, shooting Aborigines when hostile contact was encountered.

[11] In 1858, the Mount Abundance pastoral station was sold to Stephen Spencer who was able to peacefully re-occupy the property with his family, 13 stockmen and 1,000 head of cattle.

A new Native Police barracks was formed in 1859 on Bungil Creek under Sub-Lieutenant William Morehead which ensured British control of the region.

Surveyors Robert Austin and A.C. Gregory chose a site adjacent to Bungil Creek on Stephen Spencer's Mount Abundance pastoral station.

[22] In 1864, Reverend Adam McIntyre of the Free Church of Scotland commenced services at pastoral stations in the Maranoa district with the intention that he would be established as a permanent minister in Roma.

[28] During World War II, Roma was the location of RAAF No.22 Inland Aircraft Fuel Depot (IAFD), completed in 1942 and closed on 29 August 1944.

[36] Water bores have been shut down and hence been restarted at nearby Wallumbilla due to methane being detected in the Gubberamunda Sandstone aquifer (2014).

[54] Roma is the major provisional centre for the Maranoa District, South West Queensland for government and industry business.

[citation needed] The Maranoa's agriculture industry is worth approximately $620 million annually, 64.3% being generated from crops.

Saledays are Tuesday (for the big sales) and Thursday (for the fat cattle)[56] Forestry plantations include Hardwood and Cypress Pines.

[63] Roma is served by local free-to-air TV transmissions from ABC, SBS, Southern Cross Austereo, Imparja and Central Digital Television.

Public WiFi is provided via a ISDN High Speed Internet Connection to Brisbane (powered through the National Broadband Network).

[85] Local tourist attractions include the Big Rig and Oil and Gas Museum, Romavilla Winery and Roma Saleyards.