Leichhardt real estate

The area that is now Leichhardt was broadly inhabited by the Wangal, a band of the Dharug (Eora) language group. The name Eora was used for coastal Aboriginal people around Sydney. It means 'from this place', and local Aboriginal people used the word to tell Europeans where they came from. Over time the term came to be used for Aboriginal people themselves.

The Wangal's country was known as 'wanne'. Balmain and Birchgrove marked its eastern edge, Silverwater and Auburn its western. The Parramatta River formed the northern boundary. To the east were the Cadigal, to the south the Bediagal, and on the northern shore of the Parramatta River the Wallumattagal, all neighbouring Darug bands.

How many people the band held is unclear. Some research suggests that between 8,000 and 10,000 Indigenous people lived in the wider Sydney region. Seasonal movement and violence between tribes changed that figure at different periods.

The suburb takes its name from Ludwig Leichhardt, a Prussian explorer. In the 1840s he was celebrated for leading an expedition of 4,800 kilometres. Its aim was an overland route between southern Queensland and Port Essington, a British outpost on Australia's far northern coast, roughly 300 kilometres north of Darwin as it is today.

In 1848 he disappeared without trace while attempting to cross the continent, setting out from the Darling Downs in Queensland and bound for the Swan River Colony in Western Australia.

In 1871 Leichhardt was proclaimed a municipality. The municipality merged with Annandale and Balmain in 1949. The boundary changed in 1967 to take in Glebe and parts of Camperdown, and a further change in 2003 left Glebe and Forest Lodge outside it. Both are now part of the City of Sydney.

Italian commercial, social and cultural organisations are based in Leichhardt. One of them, Co.As.It., offers services suited to the community's language and culture, supporting quality of life and promoting Italian language and culture across the state. Work is under way on the Italian Forum Cultural Centre. Leichhardt was once thought of as Sydney's 'little Italy', a reputation that has since faded.

The Register of the National Estate lists four buildings in Leichhardt. Leichhardt Town Hall, on the corner of Norton and Marion Streets, dates from 1888. The Post Office was also built in 1888. The Church of England, on the corner of Norton and Marion Streets, dates from 1883, and the public school buildings on Marion Street date from 1891 and 1897.

Other landmarks include the fire station where Marion Street meets Balmain Road, the former Leichhardt Hotel where Balmain Road meets Wetherill Street, the Norton Hotel at Norton Street and Parramatta Road, the Old Cyclops Toy Factory in William Street and the Palace Cinema on Norton Street.

Many people who work in creative industries live in Leichhardt, and the suburb is known for the murals painted around it, among them a panorama at Renwick Lane and a work at the Hawthorne Canal Railway Underpass. There are commercial galleries across the area, and Boomali Gallery, an Aboriginal arts organisation, is on Flood Street.