Northern Beaches Council: History
=== Early history ===
The traditional Aboriginal inhabitants of the land now known as the Northern Beaches were among the estimated two dozen clans around Sydney Harbour of the Dharug language group. These included the Kayamaygal and the Birrabirragal around what is now Manly to the Garigal further north and around Pittwater, peoples of the Eora nation. Within a few years of European colonisation, between 60 and 90 percent of the Indigenous peoples around Port Jackson succumbed to the deadly smallpox contagion of 1789. Much evidence of their habitation remains, especially their rock etchings in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park which borders northern beaches' north-western side.
The northern beaches region was explored early on in the settlement of Sydney, only a few weeks after the arrival of the First Fleet. However, it remained a rural area for most of the 19th and early 20th centuries, with only small settlements in the valleys between headlands. While it was geographically close to the city centre, to reach the area over land from Sydney via Mona Vale Road was a trip of more than 100 kilometres (62 mi).
The Municipality of Manly was first incorporated on 6 January 1877, being the first local government authority on the Northern Beaches. On 7 March 1906, the Warringah Shire was proclaimed by the NSW Government Gazette, along with 132 other new Shires. It ran roughly from Broken Bay in the north to Manly Lagoon to the south, and by Middle Harbour Creek and Cowan Creek in the west. It covered 264 square kilometres (102 sq mi) and had a population of around 2800, with 700 dwellings. From 1951 to 1980, the Mackellar County Council operated on the Northern Beaches as an electricity and gas supplier and retailer as a joint operation of Manly Municipal Council and Warringah Shire Council. Amalgamation of Manly and Warringah councils to form one council for the Northern Beaches was recommended in the final report of the 1945–46 Clancy Royal Commission on Local Government Boundaries, but was not proceeded with in the act passed in 1948.
On 2 May 1992, The Governor of New South Wales proclaimed the establishment of the Municipality of Pittwater, the area of which roughly followed the area formerly known as 'A' Riding of the Warringah Shire. On 1 July 1993, with the enactment of a new Local Government Act 1993, the municipalities of Manly and Pittwater were renamed "Manly Council" and "Pittwater Council" and Warringah Shire Council became "Warringah Council". …