[1] The district was created in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which established a two-tier structure of local government across mainland Scotland comprising upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts.

To the north of Hamilton, the district included the villages of Uddingston and Bothwell and the mining town of Blantyre.

To the south, the territory became increasingly rural, and included the towns of Larkhall and the villages of Ashgill and Stonehouse.

(Scotland) Act 1994 which replaced regions and districts with unitary council areas.

[5][6] After the council's abolition in 1996 the building (which already contained a library) was renovated to provide further community use.