The settlement was established by the South Australia Company, and was originally called Philptown after founding publican Oliver Philp. First settled early in the 1840s, the township was laid out after the opening of the North East Road in the 1850s. By this time, the town was reported to include two post office buildings, institute, church, service station, a handful of cottages and the old Morning Star Hotel.[7] In 1864, the town was renamed Chain of Ponds, after a series of nearby ponds which were connected underground.[8]
There was also a nearby township at Millbrook, but it was demolished to make way for the Millbrook Reservoir, which was constructed between 1914 and 1918 to control the flow of the upper Torrens River and supply the eastern suburbs of Adelaide from an appropriate elevation. In the 1970s, Chain of Ponds was also demolished to safeguard against water pollution in the reservoir.[9] Little more than a cemetery exists as a reminder of Chain of Ponds, though it appears on maps as a navigation point.[8]
