Laid out in a grid plan in three sections by Colonel William Light in 1837, the suburb contains many grand old mansions.

Surveyor-General Colonel William Light of the colony of South Australia completed the survey for the capital city of Adelaide by 10 March 1837.

[2][3] North Adelaide was the birthplace of William Lawrence Bragg (1890–1971), co-recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1915, and Emily Dorothea Pavy (1885–1967), a teacher, sociologist, researcher, and lawyer.

The Kumanka Boys' Hostel located at 206 Childers Terrace, was operated by the South Australian Government between 1946 and 1980.

[5] Notable residents included Kaurna elder Uncle Lewis O'Brien, who had fond memories of his stay there, and wrote in his memoir that the Lyndons were "excellent people", who helped him attain his education.

Kumanka was one of several institutions which had allegations of abuse aired during the Children in State Care Commission of Inquiry which was run by Ted Mullighan QC from 2004 to 2008, with most of the incidents reported to have occurred in the 1960s and 1970s.

[7] The suburb contains many other heritage-listed buildings,[8] including: North Adelaide consists of three grids of varying dimension to suit the geography.

It contains the North Adelaide Primary School, a public library, a civic hall, a post office and a pub.

This area contains the Women's and Children's Hospital, the Memorial Hospital, St Peter's Cathedral, St. Mark's College, the Cathedral hotel (popular with cricket fans due its proximity to the Adelaide Oval), and the Queen's Head hotel (the oldest Adelaide pub, renovated in 2003[citation needed]).

In 1983 Wallis Cinemas bought the building in order to save it from being demolished, and reverted to its former name.

[22] After an 18-month closure to allow for a major renovation costing A$2 million, the cinema is set to reopen on 15 December 2022.

Apart from the interior refit of the theatres, installation of a lift and other features, a new licensed food and drinks lounge space have replaced the shopfronts O'Connell Street, where the original candy bar was situated.

[citation needed] There are several Adelaide Metro bus routes that service the area on their way through to other suburbs.

In federal politics, the suburb is part of the division of Adelaide, and has been represented since 2004 by a Labor MP, since 2019 being Steve Georganas.