 Hopetoun was named after the Governor of Victoria, the Earl of Hopetoun but it was never popular with locals and was re-proclaimed as the "Town of Innamincka" on 28 January 1892.The town was never very large, but had a hotel, a store and a police station which, until Federation in 1901, acted as the customs post for collecting duties on cattle brought overland from Queensland into South Australia.In 1928 the Australian Inland Mission (a part of the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia) built a hospital here, the Elizabeth Symon Nursing Home.