The district was named for the inner northern Perth suburb of Mount Hawthorn, which fell within its borders.
The Labor member for Leederville and Collier Government minister, Harry Millington ran for and won the seat, holding it until his retirement from politics at the 1947 election, in which Labor lost government after 14 years in office.
Les Nimmo of the Liberal Party narrowly won the seat, but with a redistribution prior to the 1950 election reducing the likelihood of a repeat, Nimmo opted to contest the new seat of Wembley Beaches.
The redistribution had also merged the North-West Labor-held seats of Pilbara and Roebourne, so Pilbara MLA Bill Hegney contested and won Mount Hawthorn, which he held until his retirement in 1968.
Ron Bertram then held the seat until its abolishment at the 1983 election.