The first European to explore the area was
John Septimus Roe in 1836.
Shepherds were known to frequent the area in the 1870s to feed on the open grasslands, they were followed by
sandalwood cutters in the 1880s. In 1889 the surveyor H King explored and charted the region and shortly afterward land was opened up for agriculture around
Bencubbin. More surveyors went to work in 1921 making blocks and the earliest settlers in Beacon acquired farmland in 1922. The town is named after a local geographical feature called Beacon Rock; the name of the town, in 1929, was supposed to be Beacon Rock. The rock part of the name was dropped some time later and the townsite of Beacon was gazetted in 1931. Beacon was connected to the narrow gauge railway system on 27 April 1931 through the
Burakin to Bonnie Rock railway line. In 1932 the
Wheat Pool of Western Australia announced that the town would have two
grain elevators, each fitted with an engine, installed at the railway siding. ==Notable residents==