Fifth Creek (a tributary to the River Torrens) also runs through the suburb as an intermittent stream, prone to flooding in late Spring (October–December).

The first Europeans known to have visited Athelstone were the explorers John Hill and Dr George Imlay.

[2] Due to the high fertility of the alluvial river soils, the district was soon being farmed by incoming European migrants.

[3] John Coulls from Helston in Cornwall bought the mill in 1855, converting it for grape crushing.

[5] The Addison and Ryan families held possession of land sold to the Jesuits in the 1960s to build Saint Ignatius' College senior campus around the Upper Athelstone site.

The 2016 Australian Bureau of Statistics data indicates Athelstone's population to be predominantly middle class and totalling just over 9,150 people, as it has been for the last 15 years.

Athelstone residents work primarily in the retail, manufacturing, health, medical, law, property / business services, education and construction sectors (in descending order) with over 66% of its workers employed in those industries.

Dwellings from the first half of the twentieth century housing still predominate in some sections of the suburb, with corrugated iron cladding or stone exteriors (mostly Californian bungalows).

Many of these styles have emerged as the area still has some market gardening holdings yet to be released as housing allotments.