Spring Street, Melbourne

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Spring Street

Parliament House Melbourne 2010.jpg
Parliament House on Spring Street, looking east
Spring Street, Melbourne
Australia Victoria metropolitan Melbourne location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Spring Street
Coordinates
General information
TypeStreet
Length850 m (0.5 mi)
Opened1837
Major junctions
North endAustralian state route 32.svg Victoria Street
Melbourne CBD
 
South endAustralian state route 30.svg Flinders Street
Melbourne CBD
Location(s)
LGA(s) City of Melbourne
Suburb(s) Melbourne CBD

Spring Street is a major street in the central business district, Australia. It runs roughly north-south and is the easternmost street in the original 1837 Hoddle Grid. [1]

Contents

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.

The street is thought to be named after Baron Thomas Spring Rice, Chancellor of the Exchequer under Lord Melbourne. [4] An alternative theory is that the name is due to the golden wattle trees in full bloom during Richard Bourke's visit. [5]

Geography

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.

Notable buildings

The Old Treasury Building at dusk Old Treasury Building at dusk Dec 2012.jpg
The Old Treasury Building at dusk
Hotel Windsor viewed from Treasury Place Windsor hotel melbourne 1906.jpg
Hotel Windsor viewed from Treasury Place
The Princess Theatre Melbourne (AU), Princess Theatre -- 2019 -- 1558.jpg
The Princess Theatre

Spring Street has a number of architecturally notable buildings and important gardens, with many featuring on the Victorian Heritage Register and/or National Trust of Australia. These include:

Victorian Heritage Register

*Also classified by the National Trust

National Trust

Other Prominent Structures

Parks and gardens

The Tianjin Garden on Spring Street Melbourne Tianjin Garden.jpg
The Tianjin Garden on Spring Street

Spring Street forms the western border of the Treasury Gardens. Gordon Reserve, a small triangle of parkland featuring heritage listed statues, is also located on Spring Street. Another small Chinese garden, known as the Tianjin Garden, is also located at the northern end of Spring Street. It is a symbol of Melbourne's close friendship with its sister city, Tianjin, China. [6]

Transport

Tram tracks, taxis and cars on Spring Street 1 spring street melb.jpg
Tram tracks, taxis and cars on Spring Street

A number of tram routes run along Spring Street for all or part of its length, including route 35, route 48 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.

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References

  1. "Melbourne - City of Melbourne". www.melbourne.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  2. Feeling the heat The Age 25 July 2010
  3. Dow, Aisha (10 July 2015). "Windsor Hotel to close, tower plans dumped". The Age. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  4. Royal Historical Society of Victoria. "Melbourne's Streets and Lanes: What's in a Name?" (PDF). History Victoria. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  5. Melbourne, School of Historical Studies, Department of History, The University of. "Street Names - Entry - eMelbourne - The Encyclopedia of Melbourne Online". www.emelbourne.net.au. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  6. "About Chinatown | Chinatown Melbourne - Welcome to Chinatown Melbourne". chinatownmelbourne.com.au. Retrieved 25 January 2017.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Spring Street, Melbourne at Wikimedia Commons