Spring Street | |
---|---|
Parliament House on Spring Street, looking east | |
Coordinates | |
General information | |
Type | Street |
Length | 850 m (0.5 mi) |
Opened | 1837 |
Major junctions | |
North end | Victoria Street Melbourne CBD |
| |
South end | Flinders Street Melbourne CBD |
Location(s) | |
LGA(s) | City of Melbourne |
Suburb(s) | Melbourne CBD |
Spring Street is a major street in the Melbourne central business district, Australia. It runs roughly north-south and is the easternmost street in the original 1837 Hoddle Grid. [1]
Spring Street is famous as the traditional seat of the Government of Victoria, as well as being central to many of the state's major cultural institutions. The street's name is frequently used as a metonym to refer to the state's bureaucracy. [2] Spring Street is also notable for its impressive Victorian architecture, including Parliament House, the Old Treasury Building, the Windsor Hotel (also known as Duchess of Spring Street) [3] and the Princess Theatre.
There are multiple theories regarding the etymology of the street's name. Some think it is named after Baron Thomas Spring Rice, Chancellor of the Exchequer under Lord Melbourne. [4] Another theory is that the name is due to the golden wattle trees being in full bloom during Richard Bourke's visit. [5] The most plausable reason for the name is more simple than that. Spring is a relatively common street name in English-speaking countries and usually chosen for a street due to its proximity to water, or having a slope or rise in terrain.
The street runs from Flinders Street in the south to Victoria Street and the Carlton Gardens in the north. Nicholson Street branches off from Spring Street, slightly south of its intersection with Lonsdale Street.
Spring Street has a number of architecturally notable buildings in the style of Renaissance Revival architecture, with many featuring on the Victorian Heritage Register and/or National Trust of Australia. These include:
*Also classified by the National Trust
Spring Street forms the western border of the Treasury Gardens and features multiple gardens and reserves. Gordon Reserve, a small triangle of parkland created in 1863 features heritage listed statues and a fountain which was built and designed by a Pentridge prisoner. [6]
A small Chinese garden, known as the Tianjin Garden, is located at the northern end of Spring Street. It is a symbol of Melbourne's close friendship with its sister city, Tianjin, China. [7] The Tianjin Garden is designed in the classical Chinese style, Tianjin Gardens features two pairs of carved lions, rocks, water, and trees. [8]
The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons also has small public garden in front of iconic the building, complimenting the other green spaces in the vicinity of Parliament station. [9]
There are several statues of historical figures on Spring Street, such as the Sir Thomas Blamey Statue, in front of the Old Treasury Building, a memorial to Sir William Clarke in the Treasury Gardens, and the Burke and Wills Monument, also in the Treasury Gardens.
A number of tram routes run along Spring Street for all or part of its length, including route 35, route 48, route 86 and route 96.
Parliament railway station, connecting to most suburban Melbourne train lines as part of the underground City Loop, lies directly beneath and parallel to Spring Street.
Flinders Street railway station is a train station located on the corner of Flinders and Swanston streets in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is the busiest train station in Australia, serving the entire metropolitan rail network, 15 tram routes travelling to and from the city, as well as some country and regional V/Line services to eastern Victoria. Opened in 1854, the station is the oldest in Australia, backing onto the Yarra River in the central business district, the complex includes 13 platforms and structures that stretch over more than two city blocks, from east of Swanston Street to nearly at Market Street.
The City Loop is a piece of underground commuter rail infrastructure in the central business district (CBD) of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
The City Circle is a zero-fare tram running around the Melbourne central business district in Australia. Running along the city centre's outermost thoroughfares the route passes many Melbourne attractions including Parliament House, the Old Treasury Building and the developing Docklands waterfront precinct. Since October 2023, it operates in a clockwise direction only.
Southbank is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 1 km south of the Melbourne central business district, located within the Cities of Melbourne and Port Phillip local government areas. Southbank recorded a population of 22,631 at the 2021 census.
Parliament railway station is a commuter railway station adjacent to the border between the Melbourne CBD and the suburb of East Melbourne, in Victoria, Australia. The station has two island platforms in a two-floor configuration, connected to street level via two underground concourses.
Toorak railway station is a commuter railway station on the northern boundary of Armadale, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The station is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register, and was opened on 7 May 1879. The station is named after the nearby suburb of Toorak—located north of the station. The station consists of an island platform and two side platforms all accessed by a pedestrian bridge. There are two principal station buildings located on the central platform and on platform 4, consisting of a small two and one-story brick buildings. These buildings were provided in 1914, as ticketing and staff offices. The station is only partially accessible due to a multiple steep access ramps.
North Richmond railway station is located on the Mernda and Hurstbridge lines in Victoria, Australia. It serves the inner eastern Melbourne suburb of Richmond, and opened on 21 October 1901.
Swanston Street is a major thoroughfare in the Melbourne central business district, Victoria, Australia. It was laid out in 1837 as part of the original Hoddle Grid. The street vertically bisects Melbourne's city centre and is famous as the world's busiest tram corridor, for its heritage buildings and as a shopping strip.
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.
East Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km (1.2 mi) east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. East Melbourne recorded a population of 4,896 at the 2021 census.
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.
Russell Street is a main street and thoroughfare in the Melbourne central business district, Victoria, Australia. It runs roughly north-south and was laid out as a core feature of the Hoddle Grid in 1837.
Melbourne is Australia's second largest city and widely considered to be a garden city, with Victoria being nicknamed "the Garden State". Renowned as one of the most livable cities in the world, there is an abundance of parks, gardens and green belts close to the CBD with a variety of common and rare plant species amid landscaped vistas, pedestrian pathways, and tree-lined avenues, all managed by Parks Victoria.
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.
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 mostly in the local government area of the City of Melbourne, which also includes some of inner suburbs adjoining the CBD, while a small section extends into the City of Port Phillip.
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 architecture of Melbourne, the capital of the state of Victoria and second most populous city in Australia, is characterised by a wide variety of styles in various structures dating from the early years of European settlement to the present day. The city is particularly noted for its mix of Victorian architecture and contemporary buildings, with 74 skyscrapers in the city centre, the most of any city in the Southern Hemisphere.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Melbourne:
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Media related to Spring Street, Melbourne at Wikimedia Commons