The St Ives area was first explored by Governor Arthur Phillip and a party of men in 1788 where they set up a campsite at Bungaroo which is close to what is now Hunter Avenue.

[2] During the Second World War, there were significant numbers of troops barracked in the area, which provided the impetus to build Archbold Road as a supplementary and emergency route to the city.

Settlement increased in the late 1890s, when St Ives was populated by market gardeners, a small dairy, orchard workers and related industries.

The suburb since the end of the Second World War has seen its most rapid period of expansion and a steady growth in families moving to the area.

Nowadays, St Ives is recognised in the Greater Sydney Region as a relatively safe and wealthy suburb.