Essentially a small service town for the surrounding agriculture area (the district is noted for its wool, dairy produce and stock breeding) Longford was first explored by Europeans when Jacob Mountgarrett and Ensign Hugh Piper passed through in 1806. The following year Lieutenant Laycock, journeying from north to south, camped near the present townsite.
The first settlers arrived in 1807 when a large number of free land holding farmers were moved to Van Diemen's Land from Norfolk Island. At this time the district became known as Norfolk Plains and the early settlement was known as Latour until it was changed to Longford in 1833.
The development of the town and surrounding area coincided with land grants in the mid-1820s. Prominent among the first settlers was Thomas Archer who, with his three brothers, built such notable local houses as 'Woolmers', 'Panshanger', 'Brickendon' and 'Northbury'.
The town itself grew up around the Longford Hotel built in 1827. Through the 1830s-1850s the town acquired a large number of notable and historically significant buildings.
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