Like so much of southern Queensland, Wondai was settled in the 1840s after the New South Wales government decided to open land around the Moreton Bay penal colony to free settlers. A number of large stations (first sheep and later cattle) were established in the region but it wasn't until 1902 that the town was officially gazetted.
In the 1850s the landholdings around Wondai were vast. Richard Jones, who already had substantial holdings near Murgon, acquired 350 sq. miles north of Wondai around this time.
The establishment of the town was the result of the arrival of the railway line and, in 1901, the resumption of large tracts of land which was subsequently subdivided resulting in more intensive land use.
The town grew slowly (its importance was hampered by the proximity of Kingaroy which is only 30 km to the south) and it wasn't constituted as a shire until 1914. Today it is a typical rural centre servicing the surrounding properties where peanuts, wheat and cereal crops are grown, and dairy and beef cattle are raised.
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