A mission station was founded here by Reverend Christian Schröder in 1875. The town was named after a Koranna chief Klaas Pofadder, who was gunned down by farmers. Settlers, lured by a perennial spring, sank their roots into the parched earth from 1889 onwards.
The first plots surveyed were sold in 1917. Pofadder has several old buildings, one being the Roman Catholic Church. Built by the mission, it runs a blockmaking enterprise, a chicken farm and a dairy, giving employment to the poor. There are many day walks and, in spring, a wonderworld of plants carpets the veld.
