12 May 1853   District of Mitcham

A proclamation in the Government Gazette of 12 May 1853 declared the District of Mitcham to be a local government area, the first outside the City of Adelaide. The district covered a much larger area than at present, extending from the intersection of Glen Osmond Road and the parklands to Anzac Highway, west to just beyond the Morphettville racecourse, south to Sturt Road, east to a little south of Crafers and then the eastern boundary following the main road past the Eagle-on-the-Hill and down the Glen Osmond Road.

The first Council consisted of five members with the Chairman, B.H. Babbage who was a railway engineer. The first assessment shows that there were 457 dwellings, five mansions and twelve public houses in the district. 

Over the years some areas have been severed by other councils. In 1867 the area west of South Road was annexed to Brighton, in 1871 Unley was severed and in 1883 a portion of the eastern area moved to Stirling Council. Mitcham became a municipality in 1944 and was gazetted as a city from 1 July 1947.

A plaque in the Mitcham Reserve, commemorating the site of the first meeting of Mitcham Council, was unveiled by the Governor, Sir Robert George, on 14 March 1953.

W.A. Norman, The History of the City of Mitcham,   Corporation of Mitcham, 1953.