Wandering was first settled in 1859 by members of the George Stedman Watts family when their straying wagon team horses were found grazing in lush grass around a fresh water spring known to this day as Horse Well. In 1861, they selected an area on what is now the south-eastern approach to the town, and named it "Grassdale" – the property is still owned by the Watts family to this day. A road board (later to become the Shire Council) was convened in 1874 within slightly different boundaries to the present day. By 1877, there was sufficient population in the area for the government to set aside land for a school.