[5] At the time its establishment, Yatala District Council area covered approximately 58 square miles (150 km2)[6] on what is now the inner suburbs north-west, north and north-east of Adelaide.

[7] It originally extended from Little Para River in the north which was the boundary with the Hundred of Munno Para (where Salisbury Township was established in 1847-48 by John Harvey), to the River Torrens in the south and south-east, and to Torrens Road and the borders of the former City of Port Adelaide in the west.

A part at the northern end was taken for the new District Council of Munno Para West[11] The new Village of Walkerville split from Yatala on 5 July 1855.

[13] Baillière's South Australian gazetteer and road guide, published in 1866, contains a brief description of the Yatala council area.

It recorded the population of the district as being 3091, the number of houses as 642, the cultivated land as being 15,194 acres (6,149 ha), and the council chair as J.W.