Lidcombe is a suburb in western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia.
Lidcombe is a suburb in western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Lidcombe is located 15 km (9.32 mi) west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Cumberland Council, with a small industrial part in the north in the City of Parramatta.
Lidcombe is located west of Rookwood Cemetery, the largest cemetery in the Southern Hemisphere.
History
Samuel Haslam owned various grants beside Haslams Creek from 1804. A railway station called Haslam's Creekwas opened in this area in 1859, on the railway line from Sydney to Parramatta. Haslam's Creek is sometimes referred to as Haslem's Creek.Although it had not been intended to construct a station at Haslam's Creek, the then owner of the land where the station now stands, Father John Joseph Therry, together with nearby landholders Potts and Blaxland, agreed to pay £700 to enable its construction.Haslam's Creek was the site of the first railway disaster in New South Wales in July 1858 which resulted in two deaths.When the necropolis opened in 1867 it was known as Haslam's Creek Cemetery. Residents disliked the association with the burial ground and in 1876 the suburb was renamed Rookwood from a title of a novel by William Harrison Ainsworth (1805–1882). The name of the railway station was changed to Rookwood in 1878 and by the 1880s shops were established in the area. In 1891, the municipality of Rookwood was incorporated. Over time, the necropolis had become known as Rookwood Cemetery and by 1898 residents were again agitated about the association of their suburb with the cemetery. In 1913, a new name was suggested to honour the previous mayor Henry John Larcombe and the serving mayor Frederick Lidbury. Syllables from the name of each alderman (Lidbury and Larcombe) were combined to form the name Lidcombe on 1 January 1914. The municipality amalgamated with Auburn local government area in 1949.A large number of post-WWII European migrants, including a large number of Ukrainians, settled in the area of Lidcombe, and built a number of buildings including a church, 2 halls and 2 schools. Lidcombe is still the cultural centre of the Ukrainian community in Sydney. The population dynamics changed with the influx of Middle Eastern immigrants in the 1960s and 1970s.The two main streets are John and Joseph, named after the early colonial priest John Joseph Therry.
In 1989, the former industrial area in the north of the suburb, near the shores of Homebush Bay, was carved out to become a separate suburb named "Homebush Bay", as part of efforts to regenerate this area. This area was selected as the main venue for the 2000 Summer Olympics, and in 2009 was renamed Sydney Olympic Park, with a small part becoming a new residential suburb of Wentworth Point. At the same time, a small part of Sydney Olympic Park that has remained industrial, around Carter Street, was carved back into the suburb of Lidcombe.Auburn Council was suspended in 2016 due to dysfunction, and later in 2016 it was abolished, with different parts of the former council area merged into different councils. Most of Lidcombe became part of the new Cumberland Council, while the small industrial area that was formerly part of Sydney Olympic Park became part of the City of Parramatta.
Weather
Things to do
North of the railway line:
Church Street is the site for the St Andrews Ukrainian Catholic Church and its presbytery, hall, school and kindergarten, and the former Karpaty Ukrainian Credit Union.
John Street is the site of the Ukrainian Youth Association's Centre and the Armenian Catholic Church.South of the railway line:
Joseph Street is the site for the Ukrainian National Hall and the Ukrainian Central School. Nearby is the office of "The Free Thought" Ukrainian newspaper.
Railway Hotel is an Art Deco building in Joseph Street which has a State heritage .
Lidcombe Hotel, John Street, is heritage-listed
Royal Oak Hotel, Railway Street, is heritage-listed
The Gables is a historic home in East Street, now used as a function centre. The house has a state heritage .
Juniperina Juvenile Justice Centre on Rookwood Road is a juvenile detention centre for girls. It is the only detention facility catering for juvenile female offenders in New South Wales. The Centre was also used as a filming location for the UK-Australian TV mini series, 'The Leaving of Liverpool'.
Lidcombe Hospital was closed in the 1990s and was developed as a residential estate. The original complex was designed by Walter Liberty Vernon, Government Architect of the day, and built in 1906. It is now listed on the Register of the National Estate as well as being listed at a state level.
Former Lidcombe Post Office, Joseph Street, is heritage-listed