Primary contact
Topham Mall, off 55 Currie & 56 Waymouth St, Adelaide Postal address: GPO Box 2252, Adelaide, 5001Adelaide, South Australia 5000
The City of Adelaide was the first municipal authority to be established in Australia.
Municipal elections were held in 1840 for 19 ‘Common Councilmen’, one of whom, James Hurtle Fisher, was elected as the City’s first Mayor. The first Council meeting was held in November 1840 in premises off Hindley Street.
Unfortunately the new Council experienced serious financial difficulties and collapsed in 1843, after which the City was managed by the colonial government until 1852 when the Council was re-established under new legislation that significantly widened its powers to raise revenue and make by-laws. For further history, see https://www.cityofadelaide.com.au/your-community/culture-history/city-archives/archives-collection/history-of-council
The documentary heritage of the City is preserved in the Archives, Civic Collection, and Oral History collections. The Archives holds about 6 000 shelf metres of records and these exist in a wide variety of physical formats: volumes, files, documents, photographs, maps, plans, microfilms, computer printouts, tapes and CDs.
Finding aids:
Publications: