 The hotel was opened in November 1849 as the North Kapunda Arms before being renamed Garland Ox in 1853 and renamed the North Kapunda Hotel three years later in 1856 when it was bought by James Crase who rebuilt it in 1865 before selling it around 1875.The hotel was then named the Sir Sidney Kidman Hotel and eventually renamed to the North Kapunda Hotel in 2010.The pub was the site of the first reading of the Riot Act in South Australia from the hotels balcony.