Leichhardt History
Leichhardt began its existence as a number of land grants. In particular two brothers Hugh and John Piper had a number of large grants between them. Hugh Piper established "Piperston". This estate was bought in 1846 by Walter Beames who was a friend of Ludwig Leichhardt. Beames assisted Leichhardt with provisions for his explorations and he also changed the name of "Piperston" to Leichhardt after his friend.
One of the largest estates in Leichhardt was the Elswick estate which was owned by James Norton, solicitor and MLC. This was eventually subdivided into hundreds of blocks of land. There were also dairies in Leichhardt but these too eventually fell victim to residential development.
Leichhardt was incorporated as a municipality in 1871. The 1880s was a time of development for Leichhardt as large public buildings such as the Post Office and the Town Hall were built.
Transport was improved with the extensive development of the tram system and also the nearby rail network. Throughout the period 1900 - 1920 large areas of Leichhardt were subdivided and the population grew substantially in this time.
In 1949 Balmain and Annandale Councils were amalgamated with Leichhardt (and from 1968 - 2002 Glebe was also incorporated into the Leichhardt Municipal Council area). Italian migration, which had begun in the 1920s, increased rapidly after WWII and Leichhardt became largely influenced by Italian culture, particularly the cafes, but also with the production of the newspaper "La Fiamma". Although the Italian population is decreasing in Leichhardt there is still a strong Italian influence on the suburb, reinforced with the opening in 2000 of the Italian Forum shopping and residential complex and the opening of Casa D'Italia, headquarters of the Italian cultural and social support agency CoAsIt in Norton Street.
The 2001 Census revealed the changing demographics of Leichhardt, in particular a decrease in the number of people from non-English speaking backgrounds, and a rise in the median annual income.