“Balmain is a suburb in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Balmain is located slightly west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Leichhardt.Balmain is located on the Balmain peninsula surrounded by Port Jackson, adjacent to the suburbs of Rozelle to the south-west, Birchgrove to the north-west, and Balmain East to the east.
Iron Cove sits on the western side of the peninsula, with White Bay on the south-east side and Mort Bay on the north-east side.Balmain has become established in Australian working class culture due to being the place where Australian Labor Party formed in 1891 and its social history is of high cultural significance to New South Wales.
Darling Street, Balmain’s main thoroughfare, features boutique shops, quality restaurants and cafes alongside old drinking establishments. Landmarks on this street include the Post Office and Court House, alongside Balmain Town Hall, the historic Westpac Bank, Balmain Fire Station and Balmain Working Men’s Institute. Other commercial developments are scattered throughout the suburb. The headquarters of the NSW Water Police moved to Cameron Cove in Balmain in late 2007.
Balmain has a number of parks including Gladstone Park, Birrung Park and White Bay Park. The wider peninsula has many more parks in close proximity, particularly along the foreshores.
Drinking establishments:Balmain is home to many historic hotels, including the Cat and Fiddle Hotel, Cricketer’s Arms Hotel (now The Monkey Bar), Dick’s Hotel, Dry Dock Hotel, Exchange Hotel, Forth & Clyde Hotel, Kent Hotel, London Hotel, Mort Bay Hotel, Norfolk Pines Hotel, Pacific Hotel, Royal Oak Hotel, Shipwright’s Arms Hotel, Star Hotel, Town Hall Hotel, Volunteer Hotel and the West End Hotel.
The Riverview hotel is a heritage listed corner building built in 1880 in the Arts and Crafts style. Between 1888 and 1913 the pub was named Bergin’s Hotel after the publican Joseph Bergin. Australian swimming champion Dawn Fraser was publican of the Riverview from 1978 to 1983.
Numerous phrases have been used to describe the suburb and its inhabitants, including “”Balmain boys don’t cry”” (former NSW Premier Neville Wran at the Street Royal Commission); “”You can take the boy out of Balmain, but you can’t take Balmain out of the boy”” (Unknown); “”There are only two types of men in this World: those who were born in Balmain and those who wish they were”” (a Police Commissioner of New South Wales). Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating commented on the suburb’s gentrification by using the term “”Basket weavers of Balmain””.
Balmain is home to the West Tigers rugby league club. The club was formed in mid-1999 by a merger between Balmain Tigers and Western Suburbs Magpies in preparation for the 2000 season. In 2005 the Tigers defeated the North Queensland Cowboys in the Grand Final to win the premiership.
The Balmain Rugby Union Football Club, founded in 1873, took part in the very first competition structure and in fact winning their first premiership in 1875. Players lost fighting in World War 1 forced the club to merge with the Glebe “”Dirty Reds”” RUFC in 1919, to form the Glebe-Balmain RFC. As a merged club they had enormous success during the Twenties, winning four premierships. In 1931, as a depression project, Drummoyne Oval as we now know it was constructed on the site of a small oval which Glebe and Balmain had used for junior matches since 1892.
To ensure longevity of tenure, because there were just not enough sporting grounds in Sydney, but with some reluctance, the Glebe-Balmain Club decided to change its name to the Drummoyne Rugby Football Club. It did so without giving up its long held traditions, the scarlet jumpers of Glebe and its world famous tag, “”The Dirty Reds”” and the black and gold of Balmain, colours still worn proudly by today’s players in their socks. Drummoyne Rugby Club is still in existence and still upholds it proud history and traditions.
The suburb is also home to the Balmain Australian Football Club, a founding member in 1903 of the Sydney Football League.Balmain is also home to Balmain SC, who are a semi-professional football club, playing in the NSW Super League, the league below the NSW Premier League.Balmain Sailing Club is located in nearby Birchgrove and is home to the annual Balmain Regatta.”
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