King William Street, Adelaide

King William Street is the part of a major arterial road that traverses the CBD and centre of Adelaide, continuing as King William Road to the north of North Terrace and south of Greenhill Road; between South Terrace and Greenhill Road it is called Peacock Road. At approximately wide, King William Street is the widest main street of all the Australian State capital cities. Named after King William IV in 1837, it is historically considered one of Adelaide's high streets, for its focal point of businesses, shops and other prominent establishments. The Glenelg tram line runs along the middle of the street through the city centre.

History

King William Street was named by the Street Naming Committee on 23 May 1837 after King William IV, the then reigning monarch, who died within a month. It is historically considered one of Adelaide's high streets, for its focal point of businesses, shops and other prominent establishments.

In August 1977, the first bus lane in Adelaide opened along King William Street from Victoria Square to North Terrace.

Description

The name ''King William'' is applied several times to the continuous stretch of road that begins in the inner southern suburbs and terminates in North Adelaide. Where it runs through the Adelaide city centre from South Terrace to North Terrace, it is named "King William Street"; elsewhere it is named "King William Road".

It starts in the south as King William Road, at the north edge of Heywood Park in Unley Park, and runs through Hyde Park and Unley to Greenhill Road. The road through the south parklands is named Peacock Road after Caleb Peacock who was Mayor of Adelaide from 1875 to 1877. Through the Adelaide city centre it is King William Street and continues north from North Terrace as King William Road to Brougham Place, North Adelaide.

At approximately wide, King William Street is the widest main street of all the Australian State capital cities.

The road continues north to National Highway 1 as O'Connell Street, but the name ''King William'' is not again used. The northern section called King William Road (connecting the Adelaide city centre with North Adelaide) passes several of Adelaide's landmarks, including Government House, Elder Park, the Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide Oval and St Peter's Cathedral. The section from North Terrace over the Adelaide Bridge to Pennington Terrace was named King William Road at the opening of the bridge in 1877.

Until the 1960s, trams used King William Street as a major backbone of the network, with a grand union junction at North Terrace and only one pair of tracks missing between Grenfell and Currie Streets. When most of the tram lines were dismantled in the 1950s, only the Glenelg tram line remained, and it used King William Street between South Terrace and its terminus at Victoria Square.

In 2007, the tram line was extended to run the full length of King William Street again, turning left onto North Terrace and terminating at Adelaide railway station, later extended westwards via Port Road to the Adelaide Entertainment Centre. In 2018, another expansion of the tram routes replaced the turn at the intersection of North Terrace and King William Street with a junction, and a short spur to a stop outside the Adelaide Festival Centre as well as an eastward extension along North Terrace to the Adelaide Botanic Garden. Tracks go in all four directions, but not all turning movements are supported.

Historic buildings

The Majestic Theatre opened as a picture theatre in 1916 at no. 100, alongside the Majestic Hotel, described as "the most modern theatre in Adelaide during 1916". It was one of the city's leading picture theatres until 1967, when it was renovated and became the Celebrity Theatre and Restaurant. Two years later it was reinvented as a cinema and live theatre, called the Warner Theatre. It finally closed on March 31, 1979 Notable performances at the Warner include the Eleo Pomare Dance Company of New York City in 1972, ''Don's Party'' in 1975, and ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' in 1977. Both the old theatre and hotel and the Commonwealth Bank buildings (both on the eastern side of the street) were demolished in 1980.

Junctions and street name changes

Between North Terrace and South Terrace, all east-west roads change their names as they cross King William Street. It is said this is because no one was allowed to "cross the path of a monarch". Travelling south from North Terrace, the street pairs are:Map
of the Adelaide city centre, North Adelaide and the Adelaide Parklands.

In popular culture

King William Road was referenced in the John Schumann song "Hyde Park Calling (King William Road Scene 1)" on the 1993 album '' True Believers''.

Gallery

File:Waterhouse Chambers (1847) opp. Beehive Corner, Cnr King William & Rundle Streets, 1866.jpg, The street (running left to right), 1867
File:Samuel Sweet - King William Street Adelaide, looking north from Victoria Square - Google Art Project.jpg, View from Victoria Square, 1870s
Image:King_william_street,_Adelaide_1889.jpg, C. 1869-1889. Town Hall on left, Post Office on right.
Image:King william street, Adelaide 1889 (3).jpg, Sometime between 1869 and 1889.
File:King William Road, Adelaide, South Australia 1923.jpg, The street, 1923
File:Adelaide - panoramio (2).jpg, View south from Rundle Mall, 2004
File:King William Street looking south.jpg, King William Street looking south, December 2010
File:Closure for redevelopment, Rundle Mall.jpg, The intersection from King William Street, looking east towards Rundle Mall, 2013.
File:Adelaide kingwilliam.jpg, King William Street between North Terrace and Currie Street, looking south-west, November 2006.
File:Adelaide-city-centre.jpg, View south from the Festival Centre, before the Festival Centre tram stop was built.
File:Looking south towards adelaide CBD.jpg, King William Road, North Adelaide, from the Adelaide Oval, looking south over the River Torrens towards North Terrace, King William Street and the Adelaide city centre, May 2009.
File:Wet_and_Grey_(9945539375).jpg, King William Street, looking north towards St Peter's Cathedral

See also

References

{{Adelaide CBD Streets

Streets in Adelaide