The original inhabitants of the area, the Kaurna, lived mainly along the Sturt River which passes several hundred metres to the south of the suburb's southern boundary.

[citation needed] Richard Hamilton, whose family became major wine producers in the state, planted the first vineyard in the area in 1838, just two years after the colony of South Australia was founded.

Settlers followed, planting vineyards, market gardens and almond orchards around the banks of the Sturt River and the creeks further to the north in what later became Clovelly Park.

Prior to widespread development in the mid 1950s, Clovelly Park remained a farming and agricultural region with a large number of vineyards and almond orchards.

In 1955, Chrysler Australia purchased 71 hectares (180 acres) of land in Clovelly Park and built a car assembly plant which was opened in 1964,[2] and was, at the time, the largest such operation under one roof in the southern hemisphere.

[3] During the 1960s, urban encroachment by the city of Adelaide[dubious – discuss] enabled developers to build on the remaining farms, many bankrupted by rising land taxes and council rates.

A plan to convert an existing shopping complex on South Road into an independent primary school for the Exclusive Brethren[14] was initially approved by the City of Marion's Development Assessment Panel,[15] before being successfully challenged in the Supreme Court by a local business owner.

[19] The hall can be hired for a variety of purposes, and the site includes the Graham Watts Playground (completed in February 2006, and named after the long-serving local councillor),[26] a basketball net and undercover seating.

[29] Finally, hidden behind units on Cohen Court and the southern end of Windsor Avenue is a small reserve containing seating and a playground.

The Marion station area of operation initially covered O'Halloran Hill to Edwardstown and from the coast to the foothills, including Belair in the east.

Many locals from the age of 11 began training as cadets in February of that year in order to man the station and ambulances were purchased through community fund-raising.

[citation needed] In 1989, concern over the use of volunteers depriving them of overtime, weekend and shift work led paid ambulance officers to conduct significant industrial disruption, leading to the state Labor government handing the service and vehicles to the paid staff and the removal of volunteers.