The area was settled by a number of Irish Catholics and in 1866, the St Benedict's Catholic Church was established there.
The Church closed in 1900, but its cemetery remains in use by farmers in the area. In about 1868, a railway station was erected at Pinkerton Plains on the railway that ran through the locality. Pinkerton Plains School was established in 1886 and remained open until 1967.
In the Hundred of Pichi Richi. In Quorn - A Living History, published by the local Tourist Association, it is said that William Pinkerton is credited with being the First man to explore and find a route through the pass in the hills. He took sheep through the pass, which had been known for a long time as Pichi Richi to country near Port Lincoln. This statement, if correct, would no doubt apply to 1846 when Pinkerton shifted his pastoral activities from the River Light to the Franklin Harbor district.