Prior to European settlement the Beeloo people occupied much of the land east of the Canning River in the Shire. In 1827 the Colonial Botanist Mr Charles Fraser and Captain James Stirling explored the region to evaluate its suitability for farming. Initially the area was used for forestry and orchards; fruit growing continues to be one of the major industries in the Shire today.

In 1897 the Darling Range Roads Board was formed, but it was not until a year later the first meeting was held, on 16th April 1898. The Townsite of Kalamunda was approved in 1902.  In 1961 the Darling Range Roads Board was renamed the Shire of Kalamunda and in 1978 the Shire moved its operations to the current Administration Centre, in Railway Road.

The name Kalamunda comes from local Aboriginal words Cala (home) and Munnda (forest). Thus Kalamunda means “A home in the forest “.

Geographically, Kalamunda has 3 distinct areas:  
The Foothills/Plains: Forrestfield, High Wycombe, Maida Vale and Wattle Grove
The Escarpment: Lesmurdie, Kalamunda and Gooseberry Hill.
The Eastern Rural Districts: Walliston, Bickley, Carmel, Pickering Brook, Piesse Brook, Paulls Valley, Hacketts Gully and Canning Mills

Local industries include orchards, intensive horticulture activities, grazing, animal agistment, minor sawmills, poultry, Government Works Depot and the C.B.H state grain terminal. The Shire also encompasses rapidly growing urban areas in the foothills, such as Forrestfield, High Wycombe, Maida Vale, Wattle Grove and an expanding industrial and transport hub adjacent to Perth airport.