The council was established on 5 January 1888 under the provisions of the District Councils Act 1887. On creation, the council comprised the hundreds of Boolcunda, Cudlamudla, Kanyaka, Moockra and Palmer, and parts of the hundreds of Pichi Richi, Yarrah and Wyacca, east of the Middle Range and Dutchman's Range ridge line, which together make up the eastern two thirds of the County of Newcastle. The council area thus extended north and east from Pichi Richi Pass (about southwest of Quorn) to a point about due south of Hawker.
