Gordon Sandeman and his party set up camp on Belcong Creek after arriving on the Peak Downs in August 1861, following his purchase of the Archer Brother held lands. His party included Oscar de Satge who would manage the property. After securing the leases over approximately 100km by 50 km of the Peak Downs, de Satge set about stocking the property he named Gordon Downs with sheep.

Over the years 1865 - 67, de Satge sold as separate runs on Mr Sandeman’s behalf: Malvern Downs - over the head of Belcong Creek around Scotts and Ropers Peaks with 17,500 sheep to Messrs. Travers and Gibson; Huntley - near Table Mountain with 10,000 sheep to Mr Brown; Crinum Creek - from the head of that creek to Lilyvale with 16,000 sheep to Messrs Hope and Ramsay; the country on Capella and Retro Creeks (advertised as Capella Downs and Retro Downs) to a Victorian firm; and, the head station Gordon Downs consisting of most of the country on Belcong and Gordonstone Creeks with 35,000 sheep and improvements to Mr Samuel Smith Travers (elder brother of Roderick Travers, partner in Malvern Downs).

Mr Travers retained ownership of Gordon Downs until the late 1890s. His Manager was Mr William Kilgour. Ownership between the late 1890s and 1923 is being researched, but it is known that parts of the property closer to the Capella township were thrown open for selection in 1883, 1907 and 1924.

James Clarke and Peter Tait bought Gordon Downs in 1923 from the South Australian Land and Mortgage Company and built a new homestead at a cost of 2,400 pounds. Mr Dudleigh Easton managed the property from 1926 until his retirement in 1974. Mr Easton also served on the Peak Downs Shire Council for over thirty years, being Chairman for fifteen.

There were up to 40 men working on Gordon Downs at any one time when Mr Easton was Manager, continually developing the large sheep run. This included a team of well borers who used a Southern Cross percussion boring plant to sink 24 bores.

In 1927, after the head station woolshed was destroyed by fire, it was decided to move in the woolshed from the Old Gordon outstation. Peter Hansen was given this task. He disassembled the building and marked each piece with roman numerals so that it could be more easily put back together again. The pieces were stacked onto wagons and moved to the new site by two teamsters for 10 pounds per load.

Beef cattle began to take over from sheep as the primary enterprise on the property. In the late 1970s Apex Oil purchased Gordon Downs for the underlying coal reserves. In May 1981, the company sold off 40,767 acres at auction, subdivided into seven blocks. Most of these blocks were then turned into either broadacre farming enterprises or mixed farming and beef cattle operations and remain so today.