George Street, Sydney
Encyclopedia
George Street is one of Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

's most notable city streets. There are more high rise buildings and more ASX
Australian Securities Exchange
The Australian Securities Exchange was created by the merger of the Australian Stock Exchange and the Sydney Futures Exchange in July 2006. It is the primary stock exchange group in Australia....

 100 companies located here than anywhere else in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, and is well known for being busy around-the-clock. It begins in the north end of Sydney in The Rocks
The Rocks, New South Wales
The Rocks is an urban locality, tourist precinct and historic area of Sydney's city centre, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the southern shore of Sydney Harbour, immediately north-west of the Sydney central business district...

, near the Sydney Harbour Bridge
Sydney Harbour Bridge
The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge across Sydney Harbour that carries rail, vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic between the Sydney central business district and the North Shore. The dramatic view of the bridge, the harbour, and the nearby Sydney Opera House is an iconic...

 and extends to the southern end of the city, near Central Station and Ultimo
Ultimo, New South Wales
Ultimo is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Ultimo is located 2 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Sydney....

, where it leads into Railway Square
Railway Square, Sydney
The area is not a true square but is a confluence of Broadway, Lee Street, Pitt Street and George Street. The University of Technology, Central railway station and the now closed Kent Brewery are adjacent to Railway Square.-History:...

. From here Broadway
Broadway, New South Wales
Broadway is a road in Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The road constitutes the border between the suburbs of Ultimo and Chippendale . Broadway is also an urban locality....

 is the continuation of George Street turning westwards, leading to the western suburbs as Parramatta Road
Parramatta Road
.Parramatta Road is the major historical east-west artery of metropolitan Sydney, Australia, connecting the Sydney with Parramatta. It is the eastern-most part of the Great Western Highway. Much of its traffic has been diverted to modern expressways such as the M4 and the City West Link...

.

History

The origins of George Street lie in the layout of the Sydney Cove
Sydney Cove
Sydney Cove is a small bay on the southern shore of Port Jackson , on the coast of the state of New South Wales, Australia....

 colony. Captain Arthur Phillip
Arthur Phillip
Admiral Arthur Phillip RN was a British admiral and colonial administrator. Phillip was appointed Governor of New South Wales, the first European colony on the Australian continent, and was the founder of the settlement which is now the city of Sydney.-Early life and naval career:Arthur Phillip...

 placed the convicts and marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...

 on the rocky western slopes of the bay. A track leading from the convicts' encampment in the area of The Rocks, past the marine barracks
Barracks
Barracks are specialised buildings for permanent military accommodation; the word may apply to separate housing blocks or to complete complexes. Their main object is to separate soldiers from the civilian population and reinforce discipline, training and esprit de corps. They were sometimes called...

 and alongside the banks of a stream to a brick pit, located near to the present location of Central Station. This track that eventually became George Street is one of the two original thoroughfares, along with the track that became Bridge Street
Bridge Street, Sydney
Bridge Street is a street in the CBD of Sydney, Australia. It runs east-west between George Street and Macquarie Street. It is in the Local Government Area of the City of Sydney and the postcode is 2000. The street is 500 metres long...

. It is possible that George Street was the first street in Australia.

Until 1810 George Street was generally referred to as High Street
High Street
High Street, or the High Street, is a metonym for the generic name of the primary business street of towns or cities, especially in the United Kingdom. It is usually a focal point for shops and retailers in city centres, and is most often used in reference to retailing...

 in the English custom, although the northern part of the thoroughfare was also sometimes referred to as "Sergeant Major's Row" and, earlier, as "Spring Row" (since water carriers had originally established the route as a link between the Tank Stream, the Military encampment and the hospital). The Street was formally named for King George III of the United Kingdom
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...

 by Governor Lachlan Macquarie
Lachlan Macquarie
Major-General Lachlan Macquarie CB , was a British military officer and colonial administrator. He served as the last autocratic Governor of New South Wales, Australia from 1810 to 1821 and had a leading role in the social, economic and architectural development of the colony...

 in 1810.

On 8 August 1907 at Bateman's Crystal Hotel on George Street, a meeting resolved to form the New South Wales Rugby Football League, Australia's first professional rugby football association and predecessor to the modern-day National Rugby League
National Rugby League
The National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL's main competition, called the Telstra Premiership , is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand...

.

Landmarks

There are a number of attractions along George Street, which are listed here from south to north:
  • Chinatown – Bordering the south-western end of George Street, Sydney Chinatown
    Chinatown, Sydney
    Sydney's Chinatown is an urban locality in the southern part of the Sydney central business district, in New South Wales, Australia. It is located in Haymarket, between Central Station and Darling Harbour...

     has many restaurants and shops; at the corner with Hay Street there is a tree stump gilded in gold
    Gold
    Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

    , which is said to bring good fortune
    Feng shui
    Feng shui ' is a Chinese system of geomancy believed to use the laws of both Heaven and Earth to help one improve life by receiving positive qi. The original designation for the discipline is Kan Yu ....

     to the Chinese community. Opposite the tree is the magnificent Capitol Theatre, where some of the world's finest musicals are staged.

  • Cinema District – Situated on the hill overlooking Chinatown, this area used to feature the three largest cinemas in Sydney, however the three cinemas (Hoyts, Greater Union and Village) merged their theatres into one complex, which was ultimately bought out by Greater Union
    Greater Union
    Greater Union, Birch Carroll and Coyle, Event Cinemas, Skycity Cinemas and Damodar Village Cinemas together form a chain of cinema multiplexes across Australia, New Zealand and Fiji...

     in December 2005. The Cinema District also houses many arcade
    Video arcade
    An amusement arcade or video arcade is a venue where people play arcade games such as video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, merchandisers , or coin-operated billiards or air hockey tables...

    s, Internet cafe
    Internet cafe
    An Internet café or cybercafé is a place which provides internet access to the public, usually for a fee. These businesses usually provide snacks and drinks, hence the café in the name...

    s, fast food
    Fast food
    Fast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a...

     restaurants and pubs and is certainly the most popular part of George Street after dark.

  • Town Hall
    Sydney Town Hall
    The Sydney Town Hall is a landmark sandstone building located in the heart of Sydney. It stands opposite the Queen Victoria Building and alongside St Andrew's Cathedral...

     – This is the location of three important historic buildings: St. Andrew's Cathedral
    St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney
    St Andrew's Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney in the Anglican Church of Australia. The cathedral is the seat of the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney and Metropolitan of New South Wales, the Most Reverend Peter Jensen...

    ; Town Hall; and the Queen Victoria Building shopping centre. Some of Sydney's most prominent shops, including Myer
    Myer
    Myer is Australia's largest department store chain, retailing a broad range of merchandise including women's, men's and children's clothing, footwear and accessories; cosmetics and fragrance; homewares; electrical; furniture and bedding; toys; books and stationery; food and confectionery; and...

    , are located a little further north. These are well served by Town Hall Railway Station.

  • Wynyard
    Wynyard, Sydney
    Wynyard is an urban locality around Wynyard railway station in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Wynyard is located in the Sydney central business districtand is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney...

     – This is an area of office buildings. At the eastern side one can see the Cenotaph
    Cenotaph
    A cenotaph is an "empty tomb" or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been interred elsewhere. The word derives from the Greek κενοτάφιον = kenotaphion...

     at Martin Place
    Martin Place, Sydney
    Martin Place, formerly known as Moore Street, is a pedestrian mall in the central business district of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Home to the Reserve Bank of Australia, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Macquarie Bank and other corporations, Martin Place is synonymous with corporate...

    , surrounded by old banking headquarters and the General Post Office, part of which is now a hotel. The Wynyard Railway Station
    Wynyard railway station, Sydney
    Wynyard is a major underground CityRail station in the central business district of Sydney, Australia, 2.05 km from Central. Wynyard averages 108000 passenger movements per day Monday to Friday.-History:The station opened on 28 February 1932...

     is located here.

  • The Rocks
    The Rocks, New South Wales
    The Rocks is an urban locality, tourist precinct and historic area of Sydney's city centre, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the southern shore of Sydney Harbour, immediately north-west of the Sydney central business district...

     – At the northern end of George Street is The Rocks, the place where British settlement in Australia began in 1788. There are many souvenir shops and pubs, as well as the Museum of Contemporary Art. From here one can see the magnificent Port Jackson
    Port Jackson
    Port Jackson, containing Sydney Harbour, is the natural harbour of Sydney, Australia. It is known for its beauty, and in particular, as the location of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge...

     (Sydney Harbour), dominated by the Sydney Opera House
    Sydney Opera House
    The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...

    . The Circular Quay Railway Station and Ferry Terminal are located nearby.

Transport

On 8 December 1899 an electric tramway
Trams in Sydney
The Sydney tramway network once served Sydney, the capital city of New South Wales, Australia. In its heyday, it was the largest in Australia, the second largest in the Commonwealth , and one of the largest in the world. It was extremely intensively worked, with about 1,600 cars in service at any...

 was opened along George Street to Harris Street. This reduced the traditional dependence on horses and human feet. In 1959 the trams
Trams in Sydney
The Sydney tramway network once served Sydney, the capital city of New South Wales, Australia. In its heyday, it was the largest in Australia, the second largest in the Commonwealth , and one of the largest in the world. It was extremely intensively worked, with about 1,600 cars in service at any...

 were replaced by diesel buses. George Street is still the busiest street in Sydney in terms of number of buses per hour; most bus services to the inner western and north-western suburbs travel along part of or most of George Street.

In 1932, as part of the construction of the City Circle
City Circle
The City Circle is a system of largely underground passenger railway lines located in the central business district of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, that make up the heart of the Sydney passenger railway network. The lines are owned by RailCorp, a New South Wales government agency, and...

, the George Street roadway was opened outside the Sydney Town Hall
Sydney Town Hall
The Sydney Town Hall is a landmark sandstone building located in the heart of Sydney. It stands opposite the Queen Victoria Building and alongside St Andrew's Cathedral...

 and Town Hall underground station was constructed. Further north, Wynyard underground station
Wynyard railway station, Sydney
Wynyard is a major underground CityRail station in the central business district of Sydney, Australia, 2.05 km from Central. Wynyard averages 108000 passenger movements per day Monday to Friday.-History:The station opened on 28 February 1932...

was constructed with a major entrance to George Street near Hunter Street.

External links

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