 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"".