East Adelaide was an electoral district of the South Australian Legislative Council from 1851 to 1857 and an electoral district of the South Australian House of Assembly from 1862 to 1902.
Francis Stacker Dutton was the elected member for the duration.
In 1872 the area of the electorate shrunk when the Electoral district of North Adelaide was created by excising those parts of East and West Adelaide south of the River Torrens.
The 1892 East Adelaide by-election saw ULP candidate John McPherson win the seat.
It was the first time the ULP had won a seat in the House of Assembly, with electoral success to be followed at the 1893 colonial election, winning 10 of 54 seats and the balance of power, allowing the ULP to support the liberal opposition led by Charles Kingston in defeating the conservative government led by John Downer.