The first Europeans in the Binda area were the explorers James Meehan and John Oxley in 1820. People began living in the area in the 1840s. Police were based at Binda in 1840 to protect local farmers from bushrangers. The town was begun in 1851. Blocks of land in the town were made ready for sale in 1852. It was the first town in the area to have a school, post office, police station and a courthouse. At Funny Hill, a sheep farm, a racing track for horses was made and the Binda Picnic Races began in 1848.