The village of Concordia was established in 1863 as a station of the Rhenish Missionary Society. It seems probable that its founding coincided with the opening of the copper mines by the Concordia Copper Mining Company. The 1875 census indicated that Concordia mission station had a population of 961. The railway line from Brakpits reached Concordia on 23 April1889.
On 4 April 1902 a Boer force of about 25 men led by Generals J.C. Smuts, Maritzand Bouwer reached Concordia and, on an impulse, sent a message under a flag of truce, demanding the surrender of its garrison. Much to their surprise and undoubted delight, the garrison of 250 men, consisting mostly of mine employee sand local police, obligingly laid down their weapons. The Boers remained in occupation until early in May. When news of this debacle eventually reached Kitchener's HQ, his Director of Intelligence described it as "the most disgraceful affair of the war".