The "Municipal District of Kogarah" was proclaimed on 23 December 1885, and the district's boundaries commenced at the intersection of the
Illawarra Railway Line with the northern shore of
Georges River. The Municipal District was renamed the "Municipality of Kogarah" following the passage of the
Municipalities Act, 1897 on 6 December 1897. On 22 December 1916 and 1 January 1969, parts of
Municipality of Rockdale were transferred to Kogarah.
Council Chambers In 1910 the council acquired land in Belgrave Street, Kogarah, for £285. The foundation stone of the Council Chambers was laid 27 March 1912 by the Mayor W. J. Jones and was designed by Alderman
Charles Herbert Halstead. The completed Council Chambers was officially opened on 7 September 1912 by the
Governor,
Lord Chelmsford. The 1912 Council Chambers had had many alterations, including a first floor addition completed to a design by architects Moore & Dyer in 1937 which had required the council to hold its meetings at the St George County Council headquarters in Montgomery Street while construction occurred. The newly remodelled chambers were officially reopened by the Minister for Local Government,
Eric Spooner, on 28 April 1937. In 1970 it was decided to replace the old council chambers, which were demolished to make way for the Kogarah Civic Centre, opened by Governor
Sir Roden Cutler in 1973.
Amalgamation Efforts to bring about a unified council for the St George area were raised regularly since 1901 and the 1946 Clancy Royal Commission into local government boundaries recommended the amalgamation of the municipalities of Hurstville, Kogarah, Rockdale and Bexley. In the following act of parliament passed in December 1948, the
Local Government (Areas) Act 1948, the recommendations of the commission were modified, leading only to the merger of Bexley and Rockdale councils. A merger was again considered in the 1970s, but 1977 plebiscites run in Hurstville and Kogarah rejected the idea. A further idea of amalgamating Kogarah and Hurstville with Sutherland Shire to the south was raised in 1999 but did not progress. Kogarah opposed an attempt by the NSW Government to amalgamate with Hurstville and Rockdale in 2003. A
2015 review of local government boundaries by the
NSW Government Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal recommended that Kogarah merge with the
City of Hurstville to form a new council with an area of and support a population of approximately 147,000. On 12 May 2016, the NSW Government announced that Kogarah and Hurstville would merge to form
Georges River Council with immediate effect. == Suburbs and localities in the former local government area ==