Founded as a purpose-built village by Sir Samuel Davenport in 1848, it initially struggled due to high land prices in the area.

[citation needed] Beaumont House, constructed around 1850 for Augustus Short, still stands and is now owned by the National Trust of South Australia.

Edward Burton Gleeson, the founder of the Mid North town of Clare originally owned a farm within the boundaries of Beaumont in the early 1840s, which he named "Gleeville".

As the remaining trustees aged, Burnside Council then attempted many times to instead build on the Common, against the wishes of Beaumont residents.

Fearing an attempt to obtain control of the Common by attrition, residents petitioned the State Government in 1971 to remove Burnside Council as a trustee by act of SA Parliament.

To resolve the impasse the State Government declared Beaumont Common a public park under the Parks and Gardens Act with clauses prohibiting any future building to ever take place on Beaumont Common.