It was laid out in 1858 on the farm De List and attained municipality status in 1884. Named after Henry Sutherland. Minister of the DR Church at Worcester from 1824-1859. It is notorious as being the coldest place in SA with an average minimum temperature of -6C. The SA Astronomical Observatory is near the town. It is the primary observation site in SA, since the skies are usually clear and there is little pollution.