The Beehive Corner is a landmark in the Adelaide city centre, on the north-eastern corner of King William Street and Rundle Mall, centrally placed between the railway station and the city's shopping precinct.
The name gained currency from "The Beehive", a draper's shop opened by Brewer and Robertson from October 1849 then J.V.B. Ryley from 1850 to 1858, [1] followed by Israel Simmons (ca.1831 – 9 June 1893) who ran the shop until 1886, when his business, with many others, failed. [2] According to one reference it had a beehive motif on the glass door portrayed in gold leaf. Nearby tenants included Edmund Wright the well-known architect, William Ekins the gunsmith [3] and James Allen's printing shop. [4] [5] The name is even older – archivist G. H. Pitt found the name was chosen by the original owners to denote a busy trading centre. [6]
It had been a well-known landmark for fifty years in 1895 when what is essentially the present Beehive Buildings were built for the owner, Henry Martin to replace the antiquated structure. In the new design by George Klewitz Soward, [7] four shops had frontages on King William Street and three facing Rundle Street, each 8 ft. (2.4 m) high, with jarrah floors and plastered walls and rear access and one shop 14 ft. (5.3 m) high, all having large plate-glass windows and nickel-plated columns. It was built three storeys above the pavement, and was Gothic in character, each gable finishing with crockets and a finial, and with open balustrades between them. At the main angle an ornamental turret was corbelled out, surmounted by a gilded beehive and bee and on the shaft of the turret the words 'Beehive Corner 1895' among foliage. The piers dividing the shopfronts were of Palmer granite. Sliding shutters were fitted to the windows facing King William Street, with a handsome iron verandah made by Fulton & Co. The sills of the windows facing Rundle Street were fitted with a small iron railing. The architects were English & Soward. [8]
In 1950 the prime corner section of the complex was sold to confectioner C. A. Haigh for his iconic shop (Haigh's Chocolates) after his leasing it for some 35 years. [9]
The neo-Gothic facade and prominent tourelle were refurbished in 1998 by the firm of Harrold and Kite. [10]
For over a century, "Meet you at the Beehive Corner" has been a common phrase among Adelaideans when nominating a meeting-place in the city. [11]
Forgotten today, but once a familiar landmark, "Stump's Corner", directly across King William Street from the Beehive Corner, was an earlier rendezvous, named for Alfred Stump (1860–1925), a photographer who had a prominent sign on his studio. [12] "Muirhead's Corner", site of Emanuel Cohen's "Monster Clothing Palace", was diagonally opposite.
Rundle Mall is a pedestrian street mall located in Adelaide, South Australia. It was opened as a pedestrian mall in September 1976 by closing the section of Rundle Street between King William Street and Pulteney Street, to vehicular traffic. The street continues as Rundle Street to the east and Hindley Street to the west.
Haigh's Chocolates is an Australian family owned bean-to-bar chocolate making company based in Adelaide, South Australia. It was founded on 1 May 1915 by Alfred E. Haigh and now has retail outlets in Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney.
Rundle Street, often referred to as "Rundle Street East" as distinct from Rundle Mall, is a street in the East End of the city centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It runs from Pulteney Street to East Terrace, where it becomes Rundle Road through the East Park Lands. The street is close to Adelaide Botanic Gardens, Rundle Park, Rymill Park, Hindmarsh Square and North Terrace.
This is a timeline of Adelaide history.
John Rundle was a British Whig politician and businessman.
Hindmarsh Square/Mukata is one of five public squares in the Adelaide city centre, South Australia. It is located in the centre of the north-eastern quarter of the city, and surrounds the intersection of Grenfell and Pulteney streets, near the eastern end of the Rundle Mall. Pirie Street forms the southern boundary of the square.
Hindley Street is located in the north-west quarter of the centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It runs between King William Street and West Terrace. The street was named after Charles Hindley, a British parliamentarian and social reformist.
Thomas English was a leading colonial architect in South Australia, Mayor of Adelaide (1862–1863), and a member of the South Australian Legislative Council 1865–1878 and 1882–1884.
Foy & Gibson, also known as Foy's and later Cox-Foys, was one of Australia's largest and earliest department store chains. A large range of goods were manufactured and sold by the company including clothing, manchester, leather goods, soft furnishings, furniture, hardware and food.
Adelaide Arcade is a heritage shopping arcade in the centre of Adelaide, South Australia. It is linked to, and closely associated with, Gay's Arcade.
Charles Moore and Co. was a company based in Adelaide, South Australia which owned a number of department stores in three Australian states. It was founded by Irish-born businessman, Charles Moore. Its best-known assets were the department store known to two generations of Adelaideans as "Moore's on the Square", Charles Moore's on Hay Street, Perth, Western Australia and Read's in Prahran, Victoria.
Thomas Greaves Waterhouse JP was a businessman, investor and philanthropist in early colonial South Australia arriving soon after the start of official settlement. He was one of the early shareholders of the Burra Burra Mine, and for a long time held a seat on the Directorate. He was also involved in the establishment of the Bank of Adelaide.
George Klewitz Soward was an architect and politician in South Australia. he was a partner in the firm English & Soward from 1880 to 1925, renamed English, Soward & Jackman from 1926 to 1936. Among other buildings, the firm was known for designing Beehive Corner, the Epworth Building, and the Queen Adelaide Club.
Charles Birks & Co Ltd. was a South Australian department store founded by Charles Napier Birks in Rundle Street, Adelaide. His son Napier Birks took over the business in 1908. The business was acquired by David Jones Limited in 1954.
Alfred Augustus Stump was a photographer and businessman born in Hobart, Tasmania, who had a considerable career in Adelaide.
Birks Chemists is a pharmacy in Adelaide, Australia whose origins date back to the 1850s.
Gawler Place is a single-lane thoroughfare in the city centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. Somewhat narrower than other busy streets in the Central Business District, it runs north to south from North Terrace to Wakefield Street, parallel to and approximately midway between King William and Pulteney streets.
Levi Isaacs was a tobacconist and Jewish lay leader in Adelaide, South Australia and Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Charles Atkins Hornabrook was a businessman in the colony of South Australia who made a fortune from property development in the city of Adelaide and investments in Broken Hill Proprietary and other mining prospects. He is remembered as the owner and developer of the York Hotel, at the time regarded as Adelaide's finest.
Hammer & Co. was an Adelaide, South Australia, photographic business with a studio on Rundle Street.
