The council was founded on 10 May 1853 as the District Council of Mitcham and was the first local government area formally founded in South Australia after the City of Adelaide. The council initially covered an area of 108 square kilometres, stretching from the Adelaide Park Lands in the north to Mount Barker Road in the east, with the Sturt River forming the southern boundary. It lost the part of the council west of South Road to the District Council of Brighton (later the City of Marion) on 19 December 1854. In 1871, Unley and surrounding areas were severed from the Mitcham council to create the Corporate Town of Unley. It lost another area on 25 October 1883, when portions of the council around Stirling were detached to form the new District Council of Stirling.
From 1854 to 1869, the council rented offices in the Adelaide City Centre to conduct their business, only relocating to within the council itself in 1870. Its current council chambers in Torrens Park were first built in 1934. The District Council become a Corporation in 1944, and it gained city status in 1947, becoming the City of Mitcham. The state government planned to dissolve the City of Mitcham in 1989, but the council was able to lobby to prevent its dissolution.
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