King William Street, Adelaide
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King William Street is the part of a major arterial road that traverses the CBD and
centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...
of
Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
, continuing as King William Road to the north of North Terrace and south of
Greenhill Road Greenhill Road is a major road in Adelaide, South Australia, that provides a connection to the eastern and hills suburbs. Its western section, running along the south side of Adelaide Parklands, forms part of Adelaide's City Ring Route. Route ...
; between
South Terrace South Terrace may refer to: *South Terrace, Adelaide, Australia *South Terrace, Fremantle, Australia {{Road disambiguation ...
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 William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...
in 1837, it is historically considered one of Adelaide's
high street High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...
s, for its focal point of businesses, shops and other prominent establishments. The
Glenelg tram line The Glenelg tram line is a tram/ light rail line in Adelaide. Apart from a short street-running section in Glenelg, the line has its own reservation, with minimal interference from road traffic. The service is free in the city centre and a ...
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 street High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...
s, for its focal point of businesses, shops and other prominent establishments. In August 1977, the first
bus lane A bus lane or bus-only lane is a lane restricted to buses, often on certain days and times, and generally used to speed up public transport that would be otherwise held up by traffic congestion. The related term busway describes a roadway ...
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 North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands. History Surveyor-General Colonel William Light of the colo ...
. 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 Unley Park is a southern suburb of Adelaide in the City of Unley. Its postcode is 5061. It is located on the north side of Cross Road, Adelaide, Cross Road and east of the Belair railway line. Access via public transport is from the Unley Park ...
, and runs through
Hyde Park Hyde Park may refer to: Places England * Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London * Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds * Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield * Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester Austra ...
and
Unley Unley is an inner-southern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia, within the City of Unley. The suburb is the home of the Sturt Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Unley neighbours Adelaide Park Lands, Fullar ...
to
Greenhill Road Greenhill Road is a major road in Adelaide, South Australia, that provides a connection to the eastern and hills suburbs. Its western section, running along the south side of Adelaide Parklands, forms part of Adelaide's City Ring Route. Route ...
. The road through the south parklands is named Peacock Road after
Caleb Peacock Caleb Peacock (13 April 1841 – 17 February 1896) was educated at Adelaide Educational Institution, one of J. L. Young's two first students. He was for some time manager of Peacock and Son. He was associated with Beeby and Dunstan, millers an ...
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 Brougham Place is a street lined with large mansions set in landscaped grounds in the Adelaide suburb of North Adelaide, South Australia. It surrounds Brougham Gardens, ( Park 29 of the Adelaide Park Lands), that joins the three grids that ...
. 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 North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands. History Surveyor-General Colonel William Light of the colo ...
) passes several of Adelaide's landmarks, including
Government House Government House is the name of many of the official residences of governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and the remaining colonies of the British Empire. The name is also used in some other countries. Gover ...
,
Elder Park Elder Park is a public open space in the city of Adelaide, South Australia on the southern bank of the River Torrens and that is bordered by the Adelaide Festival Centre and North Terrace. The park is named after the Elder family who wer ...
, the
Adelaide Festival Centre Adelaide Festival Centre, Australia's first multi-purpose arts centre and the home of South Australia's performing arts, was built in the 1970s, designed by Hassell Architects. The Festival Theatre opened in June 1973 with the rest of the centr ...
,
Adelaide Oval Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the city centre and North Adelaide. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby ...
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 A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
used King William Street as a major backbone of the network, with a
grand union A grand union is a rail track junction where two double-track railway or tramway lines cross at grade, often in a street intersection or crossroads. A total of sixteen railroad switches (sets of points) allow streetcars (or in rarer installati ...
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 The Glenelg tram line is a tram/ light rail line in Adelaide. Apart from a short street-running section in Glenelg, the line has its own reservation, with minimal interference from road traffic. The service is free in the city centre and a ...
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 Adelaide Railway Station is the central terminus of the Adelaide Metro railway system. All lines approach the station from the west, and it is a terminal station with no through lines, with most of the traffic on the metropolitan network eithe ...
, later extended westwards via Port Road to the
Adelaide Entertainment Centre The Adelaide Entertainment Centre (AEC) is an indoor arena located in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. It is used for sporting and entertainment events. It is the principal venue for concerts, events and attractions for audiences bet ...
. 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 The Adelaide Botanic Garden is a public garden at the north-east corner of the Adelaide city centre, in the Adelaide Park Lands. It encompasses a fenced garden on North Terrace, Adelaide, North Terrace (between Lot Fourteen, the site of the old ...
. Tracks go in all four directions, but not all turning movements are supported.


Historic buildings

The Majestic Theatre opened as a
picture theatre A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall (Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...
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 Live Theatre, formerly Live Theatre Company, is a new writing theatre and company based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. As well as producing and presenting new plays many of which go on to tour nationally and internationally, it seeks out an ...
, called the Warner Theatre. It finally closed on March 31, 1979 Notable performances at the Warner include the
Eleo Pomare Dance Company Eleo Pomare (20 October 1937 – 8 August 2008) was a Colombian-American modern dance choreographer. Known for his politically-charged productions depicting the Black experience, his work had a major influence on contemporary dance, especially Bla ...
of
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
in 1972, ''
Don's Party ''Don's Party'' is a 1971 play by David Williamson set during the 1969 Australian federal election. The play opened on 11 August 1971 at The Pram Factory theatre in Carlton. Plot Don Henderson is a schoolteacher living with his wife Kath and ba ...
'' in 1975, and ''
The Rocky Horror Picture Show ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' is a 1975 musical comedy horror film by 20th Century Fox, produced by Lou Adler and Michael White and directed by Jim Sharman. The screenplay was written by Sharman and actor Richard O'Brien, who is also ...
'' in 1977. Both the old theatre and hotel and the
Commonwealth Bank The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), or CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of financial services including retail, busines ...
buildings (both on the eastern side of the street) were demolished in 1980.


Junctions and street name changes

Between North Terrace and
South Terrace South Terrace may refer to: *South Terrace, Adelaide, Australia *South Terrace, Fremantle, Australia {{Road disambiguation ...
, 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 Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
city centre,
North Adelaide North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands. History Surveyor-General Colonel William Light of the colo ...
and the
Adelaide Parklands The Adelaide Park Lands are the figure-eight of land spanning both banks of the River Torrens between Hackney and Thebarton and separating the City of Adelaide area (which includes both Adelaide city centre and North Adelaide) from the surro ...
.


In popular culture

King William Road was referenced in the
John Schumann John Lewis Schumann (born 18 May 1953) is an Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist from Adelaide. He is best known as the lead singer for the folk group Redgum, with their chart-topping hit " I Was Only 19 (A Walk in the Light Green)", a so ...
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 North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands. History Surveyor-General Colonel William Light of the colo ...
, from the
Adelaide Oval Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the city centre and North Adelaide. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby ...
, looking south over the
River Torrens The River Torrens , (Karrawirra Parri / Karrawirraparri) is the most significant river of the Adelaide Plains. It was one of the main reasons for the siting of the city of Adelaide, capital of South Australia. It flows from its source in the ...
towards North Terrace, King William Street and the
Adelaide city centre Adelaide city centre (Kaurna: Tarndanya) is the inner city locality of Greater Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. It is known by locals simply as "the City" or "Town" to distinguish it from Greater Adelaide and from the City of Ade ...
, 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