Hamilton

Hamilton is a suburb of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, located 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from Newcastle's central business district.

Hamilton is a suburb of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, located 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from Newcastle's central business district. The main commercial centre is located around Beaumont Street and boasts a vibrant multicultural atmosphere providing an array of restaurants, retail, fashion and commercial outlets along with day-to-day services such as pharmacies, banks, florists, hairdressers, fruit shops and delicatessens.

The City of Newcastle acknowledges the Awabakal and Worimi peoples as the descendants of the traditional custodians of the land situated within the Newcastle local government area. This includes wetlands, rivers, creeks, and coastal environments. Their heritage and cultural ties to Newcastle are known to date back tens of thousands of years.Hamilton became a Municipality on 11 December 1871 and was named in honour of Edward Terrick Hamilton, who was the Governor of the board of directors of the Australian Agricultural Company (AA Co) from August 1857 to September 1898. The AA Co. was instrumental in the growth of the area, operating the mines and owning most of the land.The discovery of coal near St Peter's Church in the area known as Cameron's Hill marked the beginnings of the township of Hamilton (originally known as Pittown, Borehole or Happy Flat). A borehole was sunk and a shaft was completed in 1849 which was known as the D Pit or borehole. Pittown was located in the vicinity of today’s Beaumont street to service the needs of the miners and their families.By 1928, there were over 400 retail outlets in Hamilton, having been an increase from 80 in 1909.In 1947, Lettesi (a settler group made up of nearly 150 families from the village of Lettopalena in the Abruzzo Region of Italy), initially settled in Islington, but they soon expanded into the nearby suburbs of Hamilton and Mayfield.This was primarily due to Islington's proximity to the BHP steel works. Before long, Hamilton (especially Beaumont Street) became a strong community and commercial centre for Newcastle’s Italian community. By the late 1950s, the local Italian community began patronising the Australian owned Exchange Hotel, located on the corner of Beaumont Street and Denison Street. The hotel continues to be a regular meeting place for Italian men of Hamilton. The story of the Lettesi community in Hamilton can be read in the Hidden Hamilton blog.