Spencer Street | |
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The intersection of Spencer and Collins Street, looking north west toward Southern Cross station | |
General information | |
Type | Street |
Length | 2 km (1.2 mi) |
Route number(s) |
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Former route number |
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Tourist routes |
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Major junctions | |
NW end |
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SE end |
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Location(s) | |
Suburb(s) | Melbourne CBD |
Spencer Street is a major street and thoroughfare in the Melbourne central business district, Victoria, Australia. The street was gazetted in 1837 as the westernmost boundary of the Hoddle Grid.
Spencer Street is named for John Spencer, former Chancellor of the Exchequer in the United Kingdom. [1]
Running roughly north–south, Spencer Street forms the western edge of the original Hoddle Grid. To the north Spencer Street becomes Dynon Road, whilst to the south it becomes Clarendon Street after crossing the Spencer Street Bridge over the Yarra River.
Spencer Street denotes the boundary between Melbourne and Docklands to the west, West Melbourne in the north and Southbank in the south, near Batman Park.
Spencer Street was the site of the first permanent buildings in the settlement now called Melbourne. The home of John Batman was built on nearby Batman's Hill where he lived until his death and the early camps of Captain William Lonsdale and Charles La Trobe were located along the street. [2]
With the creation of Docklands in 2000, the rebuilding of Southern Cross railway station in 2006 and the addition of a shopping centre, the area has undergone significant urban renewal.
Many buildings and structures on Spencer Street are listed on the Victorian Heritage Register and/or classified by the National Trust of Australia. Others are more modern and significant for their current or future function. These include:
Several apartment buildings and hotels are currently under construction, including the Ritz-Carlton which will be Australia's tallest hotel when completed. [4]
Victoria's largest police station, the City West Police Centre, is located on Spencer Street. [5] The Victoria Police Centre is set to open adjacent to it on Spencer Street as the new headquarters for Victoria Police in 2020.
Spencer Street is served primarily by the Southern Cross railway station and is both a major terminus for V/Line regional passenger trains and a major stop for metropolitan trains. The street is served by tram routes 11, 12, 35, 96 and 109 at its southern end and 30, 75 and 86 towards the north.
There have been reports of supposed sightings of the ghost of John Spencer roaming around the corner of Francis Street and Spencer Street. This local attraction has brought ghost hunters from around Australia to investigate the phenomena, and is a common stop for local ghost tours. [6] [7] [8]
Southern Cross railway station is a major railway station in Docklands, Melbourne. It is on Spencer Street, between Collins and La Trobe streets, at the western edge of the Melbourne central business district. The Docklands Stadium sports arena is 500 metres north-west of the station.
Docklands, also known as Melbourne Docklands, is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km (1.2 mi) west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. Docklands recorded a population of 15,495 at the 2021 census.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Hoddle Grid is the contemporary name given to the approximately 1-by-0.5-mile grid of streets that form the Melbourne central business district, Australia. Bounded by Flinders Street, Spring Street, La Trobe Street, and Spencer Street, it lies at an angle to the rest of the Melbourne suburban grid, and so is easily recognisable. It is named after the surveyor Robert Hoddle, who marked it out in 1837, establishing the first formal town plan. This grid of streets, laid out when there were only a few hundred settlers, became the nucleus for what is now Melbourne, a city of over five million people.
Bourke Street is one of the main streets in the Melbourne central business district and a core feature of the Hoddle Grid. It was traditionally the entertainment hub of inner-city Melbourne, and is now also a popular tourist destination and tram thoroughfare.
Collins Street is a major street in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was laid out in the first survey of Melbourne, the original 1837 Hoddle Grid, and soon became the most desired address in the city. Collins Street was named after Lieutenant-Governor of Tasmania David Collins who led a group of settlers in establishing a short-lived settlement at Sorrento in 1803.
Flinders Street is a street in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Running roughly parallel to the Yarra River, Flinders Street forms the southern edge of the Hoddle Grid. It is exactly 1 mi (1.6 km) in length and one and a half chains in width.
Elizabeth Street is one of the main streets in the Melbourne central business district, Victoria, Australia, part of the Hoddle Grid laid out in 1837. It is presumed to have been named in honour of governor Richard Bourke's wife.
West Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km (1.2 mi) north-west of the Melbourne central business district, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. West Melbourne recorded a population of 8,025 at the 2021 census.
Batman's Hill in Melbourne, Australia was named for the Vandemonian adventurer and grazier John Batman. Now removed, the 18-metre-high hill was located to the south of today's Collins Street and Southern Cross railway station, and is the site of a steel marker the same height as the original hill.
La Trobe Street is a major street and thoroughfare in the Melbourne central business district, Victoria, Australia. It runs roughly east–west and forms the northern boundary of the central business district. The street was laid out as an extension of the original Hoddle Grid in 1839 and was named after Charles La Trobe. La Trobe Street extends from Victoria Street in the east to Harbour Esplanade in the west.
Yarra Park is part of the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct, the premier sporting precinct of Victoria, Australia. Located in Yarra Park is the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and numerous sporting fields and ovals, including the associated sporting complexes of Melbourne and Olympic Parks. The park and sporting facilities are located in the inner-suburb of East Melbourne. In the late 1850s, many of the earliest games of Australian rules football were played at Yarra Park, which was known at the time as the Richmond Paddock.
Victoria Street is one of the major thoroughfares of inner Melbourne, running east–west for over six kilometres between Munster Terrace in North Melbourne and the Yarra River. The road is known as Victoria Parade for over one-and-a-half kilometres of its length, distinguishable with a wide reservation and tramway down the middle.
Exhibition Street is a major street in the Melbourne central business district, Australia. The street is named after the International Exhibition held at the Royal Exhibition Building in 1880, and was previously known as Stephen Street from 1837. The street runs roughly north–south and was laid out as part of the original Hoddle Grid.
King Street is a main road in the Melbourne central business district, Australia. It is considered a key hub of Melbourne's nightlife and is home to many pubs, nightclubs, restaurants, and adult entertainment venues.
William Street is a major street in the Melbourne central business district, Victoria, Australia. It runs roughly north–south from Flinders Street to Victoria Street, and was laid out in 1837 as part of the original Hoddle Grid. The street is located in-between King Street and Queen Street.
The Melbourne central business district is the city centre and main urban area of the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, centred on the Hoddle Grid, the oldest part of the city laid out in 1837, and includes its fringes. The Melbourne CBD is located in the local government area of the City of Melbourne which also includes some of inner suburbs adjoining the CBD.
Jolimont Yard was an array of railway lines and carriage sidings on the edge of the central business district of Melbourne, Australia. Located between Flinders Street station, Richmond Junction, the Yarra River and Flinders Street they were often criticised for cutting off the city from the river, being the site of many redevelopment proposals. The Princes Gate Towers were built over part of the yard in the 1960s, which themselves were replaced by Federation Square in the 2000s. The rail sidings themselves were progressively removed from the 1980s to the 1990s with only running lines today, but the area continues to be referred to as the 'Jolimont railyards' by Melburnians.
The Wailing Wall is a section of brick retaining wall on the Flinders Street Extension, Melbourne, which is famous as the place where Wharf labourers who missed out on the daily work call would congregate.
No. 2 Goods Shed is a large railway freight shed in the former Spencer Street rail yards off Flinders Street Extension, Melbourne, Australia. It was constructed in 1889, originally called 'A Goods Shed', and at the time was the longest single building in Australia. Its address is at 733 Bourke Street, Docklands.