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'Ultimo' is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Ultimo is located 2 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Sydney.
Broadway is a locality around the road of the same name, which is located on the borders of Ultimo, Chippendale and Glebe.

Contents

Commercial Area

Schools

Landmarks

Transport

Sport and Recreation

History

Domestic Architecture

Population

References

External links

Commercial Area

The commercial areas of Ultimo are mainly centred around Broadway, Harris Street and Wattle Street. The Broadway Shopping Centre is located in the former site of the flagship building of the Grace Brothers department store chain. The Ultimo area is undergoing gentrification, with considerable redevelopment of industrial buildings for residential and commercial purposes.

Schools

Ultimo is home to the main campus of the University of Technology, Sydney and the Sydney Institute of TAFE, the largest TAFE in New South Wales. The International Grammar School is located near the western boundary.

Landmarks

The Sydney-based radio and television studios for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation are located in Ultimo on Harris Street. Harris Street is also the home of Sydney's Powerhouse Museum.

Transport

Ultimo is well-served by public transport. Central railway station is at the southern border of the suburb, on the opposite side of Broadway. Metro Light Rail and the Sydney monorail both have stations at the eastern edge of the suburb, where Ultimo borders Darling Harbour. Many buses travel along Broadway.

Sport and Recreation

Wentworth Park is a multi-purpose sporting facility in Ultimo that is used for various sports including rugby union, rugby league, soccer and greyhound racing.

History

'Ultimo' was originally the name of the estate of Dr John Harris, on 34 acres granted to him by Governor King in 1803. It was named for a clerical error in a legal case against Harris that had prevented him being court-martialled. His offence was listed as 'ultimo' (having occurred in the previous month) when it should have been cited as 'instant' (having occurred in the same month) [1]. Harris Street is named in his honour.
The area remained as farmland, in possession of the Harris family, until it was subdivided in 1859. At that time, most of the current streets were laid out, and the descendants of John Harris constructed the first residences in the area (at least one of which - a row of terraces in Wattle Street - pictured below - was still owned by the family in the early 1980s).
Residential development accelerated in the 1880s. In 1891 the population of the Pyrmont-Ultimo area was 19,177, in 3,966 dwellings. The population peaked at around 30,000 in 1900. However, the construction of factories, quarries, woolstores and a power station in the early 20th century saw the demolition of hundreds of houses, and a steady decline in population. By 1954, the population of Pyrmont and Ultimo was 5,000, and by 1978 it was just 1,800.
Subsequently, many industries began to move to cheaper land further from the CBD, and the decline of the wool industry made Ultimo's 15 woolstores redundant. By the start of the 1980s, derelict industrial sites began to be redeveloped for residences, mostly as apartments, a process that continues to the present.
Very little industry remains in the area, and its current character is a combination of residential and commercial. However, the Dairy Farmer's Cooperative still operates from its facility in Ultimo Road, as it has done since 1912. Another conspicuous industrial relic is the brick shell of Davey's Flour Mill, built in 1911, and adjacent to the southern approach to the Anzac Bridge.
Wentworth Park commenced its life as a creek and swamp, known from the 1830s as Blackwattle Cove Swamp. Wentworth Park became a rugby league oval and the home ground of the Glebe Dirty Reds who were a part of the New South Wales Rugby League premiership back in its inception.

Domestic Architecture

In common with other inner suburbs such as Surry Hills, Ultimo still has some of the oldest examples of Victorian Terraced houses in Australia. Despite constant 'slum' clearance and redevelopment during the 20th century, many fine examples exist and, as in other inner suburbs, have been progressively 'gentrified' in recent times.

Population

The 2001 census recorded a population of 4,054, 46% of whom were born overseas. Its proximity to Chinatown means that it has historically had a large Chinese population.

References

★ Matthews, Michael R. ''Pyrmont & Ultimo a History'' (1982)

★ ''The Book of Sydney Suburbs'', Compiled by Frances Pollen, Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1990, Published in Australia ISBN 0-207-14495-8

External links

Wentworth Park