The Evandale area has been the centre of agricultural and pastoral activity since 1816, when early settlers from Norfolk Island took up land in the district. Governor Macquarie intended a township, which he named Morven, to be buit 3 kilometres southeast of the present site.

But in 1836, when it was planned to supply Launceston with water from the South Esk River, via a tunnel excavated through the hill at Evandale, a small town developed around the convict station and works. Although the scheme was later abandoned, the township continued to grow.

Set in an landscape of hedgerows, wind breaks and copses, the settlement has consistent architectural quality, good urban spaces and fine town plantings, resulting in a highly integrated and successful townscape.

The town structure radiated from an unusual junction of High and Russell Streets, where a number of focal buildings form a group, including the Post Office, the Council Chambers, and a number of the earliest shops and Inns erected in the town.