Decade | Event | Glebe Population | Notable Buildings and Terraces |
---|---|---|---|
1790s | • Governor Phillip granted land at Glebe for clergy and school | ||
1820s | • Church and School Corporation given control of Glebe land (1826) • Land auction at Glebe (1828) • Glebe Point Road created (1828) | • Hereford House built (1829) (since demolished) | |
1830s | • Free land grants discontinued (1831) • Accession to throne of Queen Victoria (1837) | • Toxteth Park completed (1831) • Lyndhurst (1836) • Margaretta Cottage (1836) |
|
1840s | • Depression (1840s) • Edmund Barton born in Glebe (1849) | 1,055 (1846) | • Tranby (c1840) • Rothwell Lodge (c1840s) |
1850s | • Gold discovered in Australia • First mail deliveries to Glebe (1852) • Glebe Island Abattoirs opened (1857) • Glebe Public School opened (1858) • Architect Edmund Blacket settled in Glebe (1853) • Glebe Municipal Council formed (1859) | • Rosebank House (c1858) | |
1860s | • Gas lighting (1860) • Town water (1862) | 3,700 (1867) | • Bidura (1860) • Hamilton (1860s) • Briarbank (1862) • Aust Youth Hotel (before 1867) • The Hermitage (1866) • Reussdale (c1868) |
1870s | • Blackwattle Swamp reclaimed | 5,714 (1872) | • St Johns Church (1870) • Hereford House (1874) • Benledi (1875) • Kinrarra (1877) • Mitchell St terraces (Lorne, Park, Magnolia)(1875-9) |
1880s | • George Wigram Allen died (1885) • Glebe estates broken up • Wentworth Park proclaimed (1885) • Steam tram service to Glebe Point and Forest Lodge from Bridge St, city • Properties begin to be sewered (1885) | • Glebe Town Hall (1880) • Former Presbyterian Church (1881) • Terraced shops, 153-181 Glebe Point Rd (before 1882) • Police Station (1883) • Bellevue (c1883) • Palmerston Tce, 257-287 Glebe Point Rd (1882-4) • Herberto Tce, 2-18 Boyce St (1885) • Cliff Tce, 2-8 Crescent Lane (1888) • Courthouse (1889) • Kerribree (1889) |
|
1890s | • Depression • Land purchased for Joss House (1897) • Glebe Telephone Exchange (1898) | 15,000 (1891) | • University Hall and cottages (1890) • Montana (1892) • 63-71 Wigram Rd (1892) • 433-445 Glebe Point Rd (1899-1900) • Record Reign Hall (1897) |
1900s | • Federation (1901) • Electric trams replace steam trams • Steel Pyrmont Bridge opened (1902) • Jubilee Park opened (1908) | 19,232 (1902) | • 168-182 Glebe Point Road (1903) • Sze Yup Chinese Temple (1904) • 1-11 Cross St (1905) • 1-39 Avona Ave (1906) • Fire Station (1906) |
1910s | • World War I (1914-18) • Glebe Island Abattoirs closed (1916) • Glebe said to be fully built out • Electricity replaces gas lights (1911) | 22,500 (1915) | • Forest Lodge (built 1836, architect John Verge; demolished 1912) • Railway Viaduct, Wentworth Park (1916) |
1920s | • Great Depression (1929) | 23,000 (1920) | • Glebe War Memorial (1921) |
1930s | • Sydney Harbour Bridge (1932) | 19,886 (1936) | • Walter Burley Griffin incinerator (1932) • Valhalla cinema (1932) • Original Hereford House demolished |
1940s | • Second World War (1939-45) • Glebe transferred to Sydney City Council | ||
1950s | • Buses replace trams (1958) | • New Joss House opened (1955) | |
1960s | • Glebe transferred to Leichhardt Council (1968) • First property resumptions by Dept of Main Roads for proposed expressway (1969) • Formation of The Glebe Society (1969) | • St Johns Village built (1964) to provide retirement accommodation | |
1970s | • Protest against proposed high-rise development in Ferry Road (1971) • Federal Govt purchased Glebe Estate (1972) • Glebe Estate project commenced (1974) • Glebe listed on the Register of the National Estate | • Lyndhurst saved from demolition | |
1980s | • Gateway of Joss House opened (1983) • Transfer of Glebe Estate from Commonwealth to NSW Government (1983-4) | 11,454 (1986) | |
1990s | • Work began on Anzac Bridge (1992) • Rozelle Super Yacht Marina developed prior to Sydney Olympics • Broadway Shopping Centre (formerly Grace Bros Dept Store) opened (1998) | 13,626 (1991) | • Glebe Gardens development (Hereford Street) (1997) replaced disused warehouse buildings with 90+ townhouses and apartments |
2000s | • Opening of Light Rail from Central to Lilyfield (2000) • Centenary of Federation (2001) • Glebe and Forest Lodge transferred to City of Sydney (2003) • Foreshore walk (from Chapman St to Ferry Road) completed by City of Sydney (2006) • Glebe Point Road “re-opened” after installation of new footpaths, power cables part-buried and Parramatta Road end of the street re-aligned (2009) • Sesquicentenary of establishment of local Government in Glebe (2009) | 13,747 (2001) 13,468 (2006) | • Lyndhurst sold by Historic Houses Trust (now a family home) • Pavilions on the Bay replaced timber yard/artists workshops with 48 apartments (2003) • Valhalla restored for re-use as offices (2007) • Glebe Harbour replaced Fletchers container site (2007) with 136 apartments • Bellevue restored (2007) by City Council and re-opened as a café • University of Sydney acquired the heritage-listed Art Deco 431 Glebe Point Road for the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research (2006) |
2010s | • Harold Park closed as a harness-racing venue (2010) • Glebe Post Office closed (2011) • Earth v Sky artwork launched at Glebe Point (2012) • Opening of the first new precinct of the Harold Park re-development (2014) • Completion of the Glebe foreshore walk (from Bicentennial Park to Bridge Road) (2014) • WestConnex plans for inner-west stirred resident anger (2016) • Memories of Trams mural in Hereford Street (2017) • Elsie Walk mural installed (2018) | 16,576 (2011) 19,609 (2016) | • Reussdale, fully restored, sold as a family home (2010) • Harold Park development commenced (2012), to provide 1250 apartments and townhouses over the next decade • Heritage-listed Tramsheds restored, re-purposed and reopened (2016) • Refurbishment of Glebe Town Hall by City of Sydney (completed 2013) • Sale of heritage-listed Bidura by State Govt (2015). Land & Environment Court subsequently rejected first proposal for redevelopment at the rear of the site (2016) |
Glebe's Social History

Posted on 7 April 2013 for Bill Simpson-Young
For more information email: heritage@glebesociety.org.au
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