The area now known as Narellan was probably originally home to the
Tharawal people, based in the
Illawarra region, although the
Western Sydney-based
Darug people and the
Southern Highlands-based
Gandangara people were also known to have inhabited the greater Camden area. Very early relations with British settlers were cordial but as farmers started clearing and fencing the land affecting food resources in the area, clashes between the groups arose until 1816 when a number of indigenous people were massacred and the remainder retreated from direct conflict with the settlers. In 1805 wool pioneer
John Macarthur was granted 5,000 acres (20 km2) at Cowpastures (now Camden). After the land was cleared, it was used for farming for most of the next 200 years until Sydney's suburban sprawl reached the town of Camden and modern suburbs like Narellan were subdivided into housing blocks. The name of the suburb originates from William Hovell who pronounced it as "Narelling" after receiving a land grant from
Governor Macquarie in 1816. In the 1840s, land allotments were for offered for sale in Narellan but settlement remained scarce owing to the popularity of
Camden. Between 10 March 1882 and 1 January 1963 the area was served by
Narellan and
Grahams Hill railway stations, on the
Camden line. Narellan Post Office opened on 1 August 1856. In 2025, the morning following the
Bondi beach shooting, a Muslim cemetery in Narellan was desecrated with severed pig heads left on graves. == Heritage listings ==