![Looking_north_on_Smith_Street_December_2020](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Looking_north_on_Smith_Street_December_2020.jpg)
Smith Street is a street in inner northern
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, running north from the city proper and separating Fitzroy from Collingwood.
Geography
Smith Street runs north-south from Victoria Parade at its southernmost end to Queens Parade. Between Victoria Parade and Alexandra Parade, it forms the boundary between
Fitzroy Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to:
People As a given name
*Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name:
**FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855)
** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beau ...
and
Collingwood; the short segment north of Alexandra Parade is in
Clifton Hill. Smith Street is located a block east of
Brunswick Street. From Gertrude Street to Queens Parade, Smith Street forms part of tram route
86.
History
The road now known as Smith Street was originally a winding dirt track running from Bourke Street, Melbourne, to
Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
, and was known as the Eastern Road or Heidelberg Road. The road was placed on its current straight course as part of Melbourne's first suburban land subdivision of 1838. On 23 May 1851, the road was renamed Smith Street, after
John Thomas Smith, a seven-time mayor of Melbourne. By the 1860s, Smith Street was a busy and popular suburban shopping strip.
[http://gallery.slv.vic.gov.au/image.php?id=787 Smith Street, 1908. State Library of Victoria collection.]
Smith Street contains restaurants and cafés and also has numerous shops selling cheap household goods. North of Johnston Street there are
factory outlets selling athletic and fashion clothing. This include brands such as
Nike and
Adidas
Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...
. Parts of Smith Street also serve as a meeting place for the local
Indigenous Australian
Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
community. Smith Street is somewhat more downmarket than nearby
Brunswick Street and has not become as fashionable though it is slowly gentrifying.
During the late 1990s, Smith Street was frequented by
heroin
Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...
users and dealers. This earned it the sobriquet 'Smack Street', which, whilst arguably no longer apt, has stuck.
In the last few years a number of bars and clubs have emerged on Smith Street, including “a bar called Barry”, “Scarlet” and until its closure in 2004; the all night venue
Republika.
The street has been honoured of late by the rise of the local band
The Smith Street Band
The Smith Street Band are an Australian rock band from Melbourne, Victoria, in which the titular Smith Street can be found. The band have released five extended plays and six studio albums, ''No One Gets Lost Anymore'' (2011), ''Sunshine and T ...
, which has received international acclaim. This is despite the lead singer recently claiming that "none of us live
n Smith Streetand now everyone time I go there I get quite frustrated that it seems to be becoming more and more gentrified."
Landmarks
Left-wing
community radio
Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial and public broadcasting. Community stations serve geographic communities and communities of interest. They broadcast content that is popular ...
station
3CR has its offices in Smith Street, south of Gertrude Street. Music-oriented community radio station
3PBS
PBS 106.7FM (call sign: PBS FM), also known as the Progressive Broadcasting Service, is a cooperatively owned community radio station in Melbourne, Australia, that broadcasts on 106.7FM, Digital radio and online. PBS celebrated its 40th year of ...
is also located nearby, in Easey Street, Collingwood.
It was also home to the first ever Coles Variety Store, and a large, new Coles supermarket opened in 2015 partly behind a reconstructed 1930s Coles facade.
See also
References
External links
*https://web.archive.org/web/20041127223812/http://www.smithstreet.org/ Community weblog and local history.
Melbourne's hottest strip: get your kicks on route 86 - Article in The Age
{{coord, 37, 48, 0, S, 144, 59, 3, E, region:AU-VIC_type:landmark, display=title
Streets in Melbourne
Shopping districts and streets in Australia
Fitzroy, Victoria
Transport in the City of Yarra