Established in 1885, for most of its existence it consisted of approximately 51.5 square kilometres (19.9 sq mi) around Cairns itself, with much of the metropolitan area being located in the Shire of Mulgrave.

The Local Government (Cairns, Douglas, Mareeba and Mulgrave) Regulation 1994 was gazetted on 16 December 1994, additionally mandating that small sections of the Shire of Mareeba around Redlynch and Barron Gorge and Ellis Beach in the Shire of Douglas also be amalgamated.

On 22 March 1995, the new City came into existence, and Tom Pyne, previously the Chairman of the Mulgrave shire council, was elected as its first mayor.

He retired in 2000, and Kevin Byrne of the Cairns Unity grouping served two full terms until the council's dissolution in 2008.

Despite strong opposition from many parties, on 9 March 2013 the citizens of the former Douglas shire voted in a referendum to de-amalgamate.