Melbourne was founded in 1835, during the reign of King William IV, following the arrival of the schooner Enterprize near the present site of the Queen's Wharf.

12 (19 December 1844) extended from Point Ormond in Elwood up Barkly Street and Punt Road to the Yarra River, along the river to Merri Creek at Abbotsford, then west along Brunswick Road to Moonee Ponds Creek, then south past Flemington Bridge to Princes Pier in Port Melbourne.

[5] The Act imposed on the Mayor a duty to set up "permanent and conspicuous boundary marks of iron, wood, stone or other durable material" along or near the line of the Town's boundaries—this was undertaken by Mayor James Frederick Palmer and Town Clerk John Charles King on 4 February 1846.

Both town halls are still in use today as public buildings—the former in Kensington near the present-day Newmarket railway station; the latter in Errol Street, North Melbourne.

The Melbourne and Geelong Corporations Act 1938 allowed for three councillors for each of the eleven wards, with a general election held on 24 August 1939.

[8] Following a recommendation by the Local Government Advisory Board in 1978, an Order in Council (27 February 1979, effective from 19 May 1979) reduced the wards from eleven to eight.

In December 1980, the Hamer Government dismissed the council, and appointed three Commissioners to determine how the boundaries could best be altered to produce more effective local government, with special regard to Melbourne's central business district and its importance to the state, as well as to advise changes needed to the constitution, structure, functions and administration.

On 2 July 2007, the City of Melbourne almost doubled in size when the suburb of Docklands was re-added to its jurisdiction.

[10] In July 2009, Lord Mayor Robert Doyle unveiled a new corporate identity for the City of Melbourne, costing $239,558.

[12] Following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the City of Melbourne caused controversy and breached protocol, by failing to lower the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags to half mast, whilst the Australian flag was lowered in mourning.