The district was originally known as Mossman River after the river which flows through it. The Mossman River, in turn, was named by the explorer George Dalrymple on 6 December 1873 after Hugh Mosman who discovered gold in Charters Towers. Dalrymple wrote ""I named this river the Mossman River, after Mossman, an explorer and mining man, member of a very prominent mining family"". The town was also known for a brief time as Hartsville after Daniel Hart, an early settler. Later the name was simplified to "Mossman".