The Peramangk and early settlement
The Peramangk people lived in the Adelaide Hills before British colonisation of South Australia. Their country took in land from the foothills north to the Angaston and Gawler districts of the Barossa Valley, through places such as Harrogate, Gumeracha, Mount Pleasant and Springton. It reached south to Strathalbyn, and to Myponga on the Fleurieu Peninsula, and included some sites on the River Murray east of the hills.
The hills were among the earliest areas of South Australia settled by Europeans. From the colony's beginning, woodsmen harvested wood in the hills and carted it to the city for new buildings. In those years the hills were known as "the Tiers", and the timber merchants as "tiersmen". The Woodman, in the East End of Adelaide, was the first pub there, and it was later rebuilt as The Producers Hotel.
German towns in the hills
Several towns in the hills began as German settlements, and two examples are Hahndorf and Lobethal. The original town names and the architecture of those years still reflect those beginnings, and descendants of the first settlers, along with other residents of German origin, still live in the area.
That German connection shows in the Lutheran churches and Lutheran schools across the district, which often have German on the curriculum. Some older residents still speak the language. Some customs have grown, such as the Christmas lights at Lobethal, which began in the 1950s.
The railway and the hills today
Only one railway line goes through the Adelaide Hills today, the route between Adelaide and Melbourne. It dates from the 1870s, and since then there have been only some major realignments. The most significant of those came with a new tunnel bored at Sleeps Hill. Commuter passenger services once ran from the city to Bridgewater, in the heart of the hills, but in 1987 they were cut back to terminate at Belair.
Mount Barker is the largest town in the Adelaide Hills. The wine region takes in the parts of the hills above 300 metres. In 2021 the Adelaide Hills council area had 40,879 people, with a median age of 44. The councils here are the Adelaide Hills Council and the District Council of Mount Barker.