The area was later settled by the Norrish family, and the spelling commonly used for the place then was "Tambellelup".

[4] Tambellup's main street is Norrish Street, named after its first European settler, Josiah Norrish (1841-1884), who in 1872 was attracted to the area by its large stands of Santalum spicatum (commonly known as sandalwood).

Today, the main industry in Tambellup is sheep farming, while sandalwood continues as a distant second.

In January 1982, a decaying tropical cyclone passed over the catchment area feeding the Gordon River causing it to flood the town.

Much of the town, including the main street, was covered to a depth of about 1 metre (3 ft).