District Council of Stirling (GA1244)

The District Council of Stirling was proclaimed 25 October 1883. The first Council meeting was held on the 3rd of November 1883 at the Halfway House Hotel. From the Council's beginnings, it maintained its offices in the Stirling West Institute building until 1960, when it moved to a new building on Mount Barker Road.

The Council administered a region of the Mount Lofty Ranges. Settlements in the region was originally based around the primary industries of farming and quarrying. From the 1850's, wealthy Adelaide families began building summer houses in the region. The primary activities of the new Stirling District Council was road making - as new areas were opened up for settlement, more wards were created to help administer the growing population. In March 1935 a portion of the District Council of Crafers amalgamated with the Stirling District Council, setting the Council boundaries that remained until 1997.

The construction of the South Eastern Freeway in the 1960's meant that there was a large growth in the numbers of commuters settling in this council area. By the 1970's, the District Council of Stirling was essentially part of Adelaide's metropolitan area.

The District Council of Stirling amalgamated with the District Councils of Onkaparinga, East Torrens and Gumeracha on the 1st of July 1997 to form the new Adelaide Hills Council.

A history of the Stirling region, 'Under Mount Lofty' by Robert Martin, was published in 1996.