Shire of Stawell
The Shire of Stawell was a local government area about west-northwest of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1861 until 1995. Stawell itself was managed by a separate entity; the City of Stawell. History. Stawell was first incorporated as a road district on 29 January 1861, and became a shire on 30 December 1864. On 26 October 1926, it annexed part of the North Riding of the Shire of Ararat. On 20 January 1995, the Shire of Stawell was abolished, and, along with the City of  Stawell, the Town of St Arnaud, most of the Shire of Kara Kara, and parts of the Shires of Ararat, Avoca, Donald and Dunmunkle, and the Grampians National Park within the Shire of Wimmera, was merged into the newly created Shire of Northern Grampians. The Armstrong district was transferred into the Rural City of Ararat. Wards. The Shire of Stawell was divided into four ridings, each of which elected three councillors: