The Pilgrim Inn became the Red House hotel, at the back of which the owner, G. F. Goyder, constructed a racetrack, on which steeplechase and walking races were conducted.

This attracted speculative property investors, as well as people of limited financial means, setting in place Northcote's reputation as a working-class suburb.

The Little Sisters of the Poor began building on a site along St Georges Road, which still exists today.

The Preston and Northcote Community Hospital (commonly known as "PANCH")[5] at 205 Bell Street, opened in 1958.

[14] During the 1996 to 2006 decade, the number of two earner households rose by ten percentage points; the share of households in the top income quintile went from 14 to 19 per cent; and, the percentage of persons age 15 years and above with a bachelor's degree or high rose from 14 to 27 per cent (a much greater increase than experience by Melbourne as a whole).

In 2011, a report from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute at Swinburne and Monash universities revealed Northcote had experienced the most intense gentrification of any Melbourne suburb in recent years.

An AHURI report states that between 2001 and 2006, almost 35 per cent of the members of vulnerable groups, including low-income households, single parent families and immigrants, had moved out of the area.

Since 2006, the most significant increases in occupation have come from those working in professional and managerial roles, with less residents now living in Northcote employed in manual labour positions.

[16] These changes in the population and demographics of Northcote and the greater Darebin area, have led to increases in the amount of cafes, bars, restaurants and other small businesses operating in the region.

There is also a large native garden giving special attention to plants indigenous to the area, and a series of ponds.

The park was also the location of a December 2008 shooting involving police and a 15-year-old boy named Tyler Cassidy.

The park hosts a playcentre, a playground, toilets, and the Pioneer's Retreat building, currently used by an incorporated association, We-Cycle.

The traditional owners of land where Johnson Park stands today are the Wurundjeri-Willampatriliny people.

In 1913, five acres was bought in Bastings Street on the flat low-lying basalt soils between Rucker Hill and Darebin Creek.

After a steady increase in their primary vote from the early 2000s, The Greens eventually won the seat in the 2017 by-election following the death of Labor member Fiona Richardson, represented by Lidia Thorpe.

[28] The area surrounding Northcote is home to local sporting teams: ^ = territory divided with another LGA