The first European to settle in the area was John Packham in 1893.
The railway to Southern Cross was constructed through the area in 1894–95, and Tammin was one of the original stations when the line opened in 1895. As the surrounding area developed for agriculture, there was sufficient demand for land in the area for the government to declare a townsite, and Tammin townsite was gazetted in 1899.
Tammin is an Aboriginal name derived from the nearby Tammin Rock, a name first recorded by the explorer Charles Cooke Hunt in 1864. The rock possibly derives its name from the "Tammar", the Aboriginal name of the "black gloved wallaby", which was once found in this area. Another source records it as possibly meaning "a grandmother or a grandfather".
The local Agricultural Hall was opened in 1911 by the Minister of Agriculture.[4]