Before being gazetted with a place name, the area was often referred to on civil birth, death and marriage registrations as "near Government Farm", which later became Belair National Park.
The Upper Sturt area had two stations on the Adelaide-Bridgewater railway line, which was constructed through the area in the late 1870s: Nalawort and Upper Sturt, both of which have closed and structures mostly removed.
Upper Sturt Post Office opened on 1 March 1881.[3]
There is a small cafe on the main road that also incorporates a general store adjacent to the Upper Sturt General Store. The Upper Sturt Country Fire Service station which is a volunteer fire organisation to protect the area from bushfires.