The area of the city was settled in Europe in 1848 by the Englishman Andrew Risby with his wife and five children. The area was known as "The Leven" and for its forests. In the 1850s, woodworkers settled the area. They felled trees as lumber for mining in connection with the gold rush in Victoria and for shipping to Melbourne , Australia. The name Ulverstone came up in 1854 and on February 22, 1861 it was named after the Irish city of Ulverston, or Ulverstone. The city only grew in the early 1900s, in 1861 there were only 15 and in 1870 25 inhabitants. When the railway opened up the place in 1890, the place developed and the population grew.
From 1915 to 1955 there was a railway line from Ulverstone to Nietta , which was mostly used to transport the wood to Burnie .
