The first European in the area was the explorer Thomas Mitchell, who travelled through the area in 1846. Settlers followed with James Whitman opening a hotel, store and blacksmith by May 1875. The town was surveyed as the Town of Wittown in April 1878; it is said that Whitman named it after himself. However, in May 1878, the name Isisford was proposed and by August 1878 it had been renamed Isisford, because it was near the Isis Downs pastoral run and a ford on the Barcoo River.