Originally created in 1974, the ward was initially within Cumnock and Doon Valley District Council before the local government reforms in the 1990s.
The ward was a Labour stronghold as the party successfully held the seat at every election after gaining it from independent T. Hainey in 1984 until it was abolished.
The Patna and Dalrymple ward was created in 1974 by the Formation Electoral Arrangements from the previous Dalmellington North and Dalrymple electoral divisions of Ayr County Council excluding the part which lay within the Parish of Ayr.
The ward centered around the towns of Patna and Dalrymple and took in the western part of Cumnock and Doon Valley next to its border with Kyle and Carrick District Council.
In 1998, the Third Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements straightened the boundary to the east of Patna to include an area of farmland ahead of the 1999 election.