In the City of Port Adelaide, the council was established on 27 December 1855, and from 1884 to 1900 the adjacent district councils of Portland Estate, Birkenhead, Queenstown and Alberton, and Rosewater, and the Corporate Town of Semaphore, were amalgamated with the Town of Port Adelaide.
The council was established on 27 December 1855 when the Corporate Town of Port Adelaide was proclaimed as a new municipality centred on the township of the port of Adelaide, which had been opened some years prior in 1837. From 1884 to 1900 the adjacent district councils of Portland Estate, Birkenhead, Queenstown and Alberton, and Rosewater, and the Corporate Town of Semaphore, were amalgamated with the Town of Port Adelaide, dramatically increasing its size. 
