Our History – Inner West

Inner West is a new council formed by the merger of the former Leichhardt, Ashfield and Marrickville Councils. The History of the Inner West is diverse comprising of the rich history of 27 inner city suburbs. We acknowledge that this land area traditionally belonged to the Gadigal and Wangal peoples of the Eora nation.

From the working harbour of Industrial Balmain to Leichhardt on the Margins to the city to the Rural Outpost of Marrickville to the Garden Suburb garden suburb of Haberfield and the eclectic suburb of Ashfield the area is a truly host to a history of a dynamic social, political, architectural and environmental history undergoing significant change in development to the urban landscape.

The development of suburbs such as Marrickville, Petersham, St Peters, Annandale, Haberfield and Balmain was mainly developed through estates and villa sites sporting grand houses, orchards on acreages, increased demand for housing in the 1870s and 1880s lead to the major developments of the suburbs we live and work in today. Developers, architects and prominent land owners played an important role in the creation of the Inner West suburbs. Some 61,630 permanent dwellings constructed in Sydney between 1861 and 1891 with the pioneering of one of the first modelled garden suburbs sporting historically beautifully and complete cottages in Haberfield as well as the model township of Annandale.

History and elegance can be observed throughout the Inner West displaying architectural character, richness in house styles enhanced by rich green parks and sporting fields.

The current population of the Inner West area is 192,000 over 36 square kilometres.

The Inner West Council area comprises historically of the former municipalities of:

Annandale 1894-1949