''The Corso'' is one of the main streets and a

pedestrian mall Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town reserved for pedestrian-only use and in whi ...

in Manly. It connects the

Manly ferry wharf Manly Wharf is a heritage-listed passenger terminal wharf and recreational area located at West Esplanade and serving Manly, a Sydney suburb in the Northern Beaches Council local government area of New South Wales, Australia. Since the 1850s ...

Manly Beach Manly Beach is a beach situated among the Northern Beaches of Sydney, Australia, in Manly, New South Wales. From north to south, the three main sections are Queenscliff, North Steyne, and South Steyne. Etymology The beach was named by Capt. A ...

on the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

side of the Manly peninsula.

History

There has long been a track between Manly Cove and Ocean Beach, worn by the local Aboriginal people, the Kay-ye-my clan of the

Guringai Kuringgai (also spelled Ku-ring-gai, Kuring-gai, Guringai, Kuriggai) (,) is an ethnonym referring to (a) an hypothesis regarding an aggregation of Indigenous Australian peoples occupying the territory between the southern borders of the Gamilar ...

people. Proposed by Henry Gilbert Smith, the earliest developer of Manly who had a vision for this stretch of ground as a promenade with hotels, tearooms and entertainment. The promenade was to be named after

Via del Corso The Via del Corso is a main street in the historical centre of Rome. It is straight in an area otherwise characterized by narrow meandering alleys and small piazzas. Considered a wide street in ancient times, the Corso is approximately 10 metres w ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and it was to be the focal point of his planned new resort, called New Brighton or Manly Beach. The Corso was built in 1855 as a

boardwalk A boardwalk (alternatively board walk, boarded path, or promenade) is an elevated footpath, walkway, or causeway built with wooden planks that enables pedestrians to cross wet, fragile, or marshy land. They are also in effect a low type of brid ...

, the street allowed tourists to cross the sand spit between the harbour pier and ocean beach. Realising that refreshment was essential, Smith established a hotel at each end of the Corso. The Pier was built in 1856 and the Steyne was built in 1858–59 which was designed by the colonial architect Edmund Blacket as well as St Matthew's Anglican Church halfway along the Corso which was built in 1865 and partly paid for by Smith. By 1861 there were three hotels and a temperance hotel, which only sold soft drinks. Twenty years later there were six hotels, three of which survive today. In the 1880s most commercial activities were centred on the Corso with many families living above their businesses. Entertainment was added including an Aquarium and later, 'Sovereign' Smith's Gallery of Amusements. The first large general store White Brothers opened in 1907 and later became Campbell's General Merchants, a Corso landmark for many years. By the 1920s the Corso was the main shopping precinct of the

Northern Beaches The Northern Beaches is a region within Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, near the Pacific coast. This area extends south to the entrance of Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour), west to Middle Harbour and north to the en ...

. The Rialto Theatre opened on 23 July 1923 and was renamed to Odeon on 3 March 1951 operated until its closure on 28 January 1961. St Matthew's church along with the Victoria Hall next door was demolished in 1929 to make way the widening of the Corso. The new St Matthew's opened on 20 September 1930. During the 1950s, The Corso was anchored by Woolworths, Coles, Campbell's, Cooper's, Little's, McIlrath's, Buckingham's, Snow's and HG Palmer's. In 1961 The Mall which was walk-through two-storey shopping centre opened on the site of the former Odeon and was renamed to La Gallerie in 1989. With the opening of

Warringah Mall Westfield Warringah Mall (previously known as Warringah Mall or colloquially as The Mall) is a large indoor/outdoor shopping centre in the suburb of Brookvale in the Northern Beaches region of Sydney. Transport Westfield Warringah Mall h ...

, an American-style shopping centre in 1963 in the suburb of Brookvale saw The Corso shops declined. Many stores including Campbell's, Cooper's, Little's, McIlrath's, Buckingham's, Snow's, HG Palmer's and Woolworths closed. By 2008 only Coles remains as the sole anchor tenant. Surf brand

Billabong Billabong ( ) is an Australian term for an oxbow lake, an isolated pond left behind after a river changes course. Billabongs are usually formed when the path of a creek or river changes, leaving the former branch with a dead end. As a result ...

and The Boardrider Backpacker opened in 2003 on the former site of Woolworths. SLNSW 796597 Trams on Corso Manly

The Corso was partially returned to a pedestrian street in the 1970s. Its ocean-side intersection marks the boundary between the

North Steyne North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

and

South Steyne The SS ''South Steyne'' is a former Manly ferry on Sydney Harbour. She was the world's largest steam-powered passenger ferry and operated on the service from 1938 to 1974. Restored in the 1980s, she served as a restaurant ship in Newcastle i ...

sections of

Redevelopment

In 2007 Manly Council lodged an $8 million upgrade of The Corso. Vibrant lighting, water fountains, tree plantings, fresh new street furniture palettes, new tiles and the removal of an

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

have been installed at The Corso.

Shopping centres

Three shopping centres and arcades are located on or close to The Corso: * La Gallerie - Opened in 1961 as The Mall and renamed in 1989 as La Gallerie * Henry Roth Arcade - Named after

Henry Ling Roth Henry Ling Roth (3 February 1855 – 12 May 1925) was an English-born anthropologist and museum curator, active in Australia. Early life Roth was born in London, the son of Dr Mathias Roth, an Austrian-born surgeon, and his English wife Anna Mar ...

* Pacific Point Arcade - Located on Sydney Road near The Corso. Originally opened as a cinema called Britannia in 1916 renamed to New Olympic in honour of Boy Charlton, Dick Eve and Nick Winter, gold medallists in 1924 at the Paris Olympics. The building became into a furniture store in 1936. Waltons Ltd bought the site and opened their furniture and home appliances store on 3 December 1954. In the 1970s the building was converted into offices and an auction room with the shops and arcade linking Sydney Road with Henrietta Lane opened in 1983.

Gallery

File:The Corso Manly 2011.jpg, The Corso in 2011 File:Manly-The-Corso.jpg, The Corso facing Manly Beach File:Manly Corso Amphitheatre 2006.jpg, The amphitheatre at The Corso prior to its removal in the 2007 redevelopment

References

External links