The range was first recorded in 1836 by Surveyor General of Western Australia John Septimus Roe.
The area was settled by the 1900s (decade), and in 1911 the town of Wongan Hills was established and named after the range.
[2] The hills are biologically significant because they contain the largest remaining single area of natural vegetation in northern parts of the wheatbelt.
George thought this remarkable enough to note the fact that this region was settled shortly after colonisation, with a prolific botanical collector nearby, but it still revealed a new taxon.
A study of the area in 1982, published in a series of articles in Nuytsia, described eight unknown species of plants.