Dual local government was established for the hundred in January 1854 with the formation of the District Council of Barossa West. A few months later in June of that year the district councils of Barossa East and Mount Crawford were established to administer the north east and south east of the hundred, respectively. After lobbying by dissatisfied residents of Gawler at the confluence of the North Para and South Para rivers, the Town of Gawler was established in 1857 to govern the township of Gawler, annexing a small portion of Barossa West. In 1888, Barossa West and Barossa East councils were amalgamated as the District Council of Barossa bringing the whole hundred except for Gawler under the governance a single local council. The council remained in place for more than a hundred years before it was amalgamated with the District Council of Angaston and District Council of Tanunda to the north to form the much larger modern Barossa Council.