History
Recorded history of this area dates back to 1629 with the wrecked Dutch ship Batavia and two men being marooned at the mouth of the Murchison River.
Copper was first discovered in WA at Wannernooka in 1842, with lead then being discovered in 1848.
A convict hiring station was established at Port Gregory from 1853-1856. The first railway commenced in 1874 and was completed in 1879 running from Geraldton to Northampton, later being extended to Ajana in 1913.
With the railway came the expansion of the district's mining and agriculture, more lead and copper mines were opened up, cereal crops (mainly wheat) were increasing and sheep numbers also increased.
Local Government commenced in 1871, the district then named "Mines Road District". Its boundaries being described from the north by running a line running eastward from the mouth of the Murchison River, west by the Indian Ocean, south by a line running eastward from the mouth of the Buller river, with no eastern boundary.
The first local government administration centre/office was built in 1898 in Northampton, new offices were built in 1957 and were extensively extended and modified in 1984 and again in 2001. The Kalbarri administration centre, being the "Allen Centre", was opened in 1992.