It came into operation on 28 February 1878, with the first five councillors appointed by proclamation.
[3] The council initially met in local hotels, leased private offices for a period, and met at Hornsdale Station for a year, before constructing purpose-built council offices in Charles Street, Caltowie, in 1896.
[3] The council was initially divided into four wards: Central, South-Western and North-Western, electing one councillor, and Eastern, electing two councillors.
[1] It gained the previously unincorporated Hundred of Tarcowie under the District Councils Act 1887, which resulted in a system of ten councillors representing as many wards.
The council was responsible for an area of nearly 200 square miles in that year.