Grote Street is a major street running east to west in the western half of Adelaide city centre, in

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 ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. It is on the northern border of

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...

and the

Adelaide Central Market The Adelaide Central Market is a major fresh produce market in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. As one of the oldest markets in Australia, Adelaide Central Market has a large range of fresh food, including fruit and vegetables, meat and po ...

, and is a lively centre for shopping and restaurants. The historic Her Majesty's Theatre is located here.

History

The street, laid out as part of Colonel Light's city plan in 1837, was named after

George Grote George Grote (; 17 November 1794 – 18 June 1871) was an English political radical and classical historian. He is now best known for his major work, the voluminous ''History of Greece''. Early life George Grote was born at Clay Hill near Be ...

, an English classical historian and supporter of

Robert Gouger Robert Gouger (; 26 June 1802 – 4 August 1846) was one of the founders of South Australia and the first Colonial Secretary of South Australia. Early life Gouger was the fifth son of nine children of George Gouger (1763–1802), who was a pr ...

Churches

The original St Patrick's Church, Adelaide's first

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

church, was built from around 1845 on what is now Gray Street, and was the principal place of worship for Catholics until St Francis Xavier's Cathedral opened on Wakefield Street in 1858. A much larger building, designed by

Woods and Bagot Woods Bagot is a global architectural and consulting practice founded in Adelaide, South Australia. It specialises in the design and planning of buildings across a wide variety of sectors and disciplines. Former names of the practice include Woo ...

, was built between 1912 and 1914, and still stands today, on the corner of Gary Street. The original church building was demolished in 1959. A chapel was built on the northern side of Grote Street at the eastern end for the

Church of Christ Church of Christ may refer to: Church groups * When used in the plural, a New Testament designation for local groups of people following the teachings of Jesus Christ: "...all the churches of Christ greet you", Romans 16:16. * The entire body of Ch ...

congregation in December 1856. This was replaced by a larger bluestone chapel in 1925. The old church was demolished in 1940 and the new one has been used for other than religious purposes for some time, including as a restaurant and entertainment venue.

Grote Street Model School

The Grote Street Model School, on the corner with Morphett Street, was designed by architect Edward John Woods in 1872, and built by T. Martin & Son in 1873–74. This was the first of four "model schools" in the city centre, which included Sturt Street Public School (1883),

Flinders Street Model School Flinders Street is a main street in the city centre of Adelaide, South Australia. It runs from the northern end of Victoria Square to East Terrace, Adelaide. It is one of the intermediate-width streets of the Adelaide grid, at wide.

(1878), and

Currie Street Model School Currie Street is a main street in the Adelaide city centre, South Australia.Map
of the

teachers' training college A normal school or normal college is an institution created to train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high school level, turni ...

, also designed by Woods (opened June 1876); and the Advanced School for Girls, which was the first state secondary school in the colony of South Australia, as well as the first state school for girls above primary level (designed by

Owen Smyth Owen may refer to: Origin: The name Owen is of Irish and Welsh origin. Its meanings range from noble, youthful, and well-born. Gender: Owen is historically the masculine form of the name. Popular feminine variations include Eowyn and Owena. ...

in 1890, and built by J. J. Leahy in 1891). In 1908 the Model School and the Training School were amalgamated, forming the Continuation School for Boys, which then amalgamated with the Advanced School for Girls, creating Adelaide High School in September 1908. The buildings were then used by the Department of Further Education and the Multicultural Education Centre, later being sold for various private uses. The United Trades and Labor Council (UTLC), established in 1884, constructed a Trades Hall on the northern side of the street, near Victoria Square. Although not financially supported by the colonial government, it was funded by various private donations by parliamentarians, including Richard Chaffey Baker,

George Charles Hawker Sir George Charles Hawker (21 September 1818 – 21 May 1895) was a South Australian settler and politician. Early life Hawker was born in London, the second son of Admiral Edward Hawker and his first wife, Joanna Naomi, ''née'' Poore. He was ...

, and John Howard Angas. The building was officially opened on 4 March 1896, and in the early 1900s Robert Barr Smith donated £2300 to pay off the outstanding

mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any pu ...

Businesses

Around 1903,

W. H. Bruce Grote Street is a major street running east to west in the western half of Adelaide city centre, in Adelaide, South Australia. It is on the northern border of Chinatown and the Adelaide Central Market, and is a lively centre for shopping and r ...

started a business with a capital of £30 "in a little shop of in the Central Market", trading in "

fancy goods Fancy may refer to: Places * Fancy, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, a settlement * Fancy River, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Music Albums * ''Fancy'' (Bobbie Gentry album), 1970 * ''Fancy'' (Idiot Flesh album), 1997 * ''Fancy'' (video ...

", soon moving on to

tailoring A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...

(which by 1918 was "the largest tailoring concern in Australasia"). He leased a group of two-storey shops with a frontage, built in 1906, for about 20 years. Part of these later became the Empire Theatre. In 1909 Bruce converted the upper storey of two of his shop into an "amusement hall" used for screening films by means of a

photo-rotoscope 35 mm film is a film gauge used in filmmaking, and the film standard. In motion pictures that record on film, 35 mm is the most commonly used gauge. The name of the gauge is not a direct measurement, and refers to the nominal width o ...

, called Golden Gate Hall. Toys were sold in this hall, with films shown periodically, every afternoon and evening, for free. This lasted for a year before being converted back into a large storage room. Apart from his large retail stores, Bruce also ran what were known as "cheapjack" stalls at the market, basically a type of

lottery A lottery is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of ...

or "sixpenny dip", where buyers would offer a coin for an unknown purchase. Bruce subsequently had a successful career as a businessman though the 1910s, establishing a number of stores in Adelaide and country towns, as well as breeding pigs. In 1918, Bruce amalgamated his considerable business interests in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

with those in South Australia, forming the company W. H. Bruce Limited, which had a capital value of £150,000, with £47,000 being in fully paid-up shares. Bruce allocated 5,000 shares to current employees of the business, and 1,000 to past employees. He would be the governing director of the new company. At this time he had shops in Kadina and Port Pirie in South Australia, three locations in Victoria, and six in New South Wales. He also had a farm near Renmark, South Australia, and was described in '' The Advertiser'' as one "who has long been recognised as one of Adelaide's leading business

magnate The magnate term, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders, or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...

s". In October 1925 a fire broke out in his Grote Street store and damaged most of his stock of suits. In 1929, having taken over

Conrad's butcher Hindley Street is located in the north-west quarter of the centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It runs between King William Street and West Terrace. The street was named after Charles Hindley, a British parliamentarian and soc ...

Hindley Street Hindley Street is located in the north-west quarter of the centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It runs between King William Street and West Terrace. The street was named after Charles Hindley, a British parliamentarian and soc ...

(possibly upon Conrad's death in 1918), Bruce had butcher shops in Grote Street, Rundle Street,

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...

, and Glenelg. He was later described as a "great businessman". There was still a business concern named W. H. Bruce in 1954, which opened a new food store (of meats) at 13–15 Grote Street in December 1954. In 1931, an arcade was constructed through the shops formerly leased by Bruce to create a northern entrance to

Theatres and cinemas

On 10 April 1909 the first theatre in Grote Street, the Empire Theatre, opened. Designed by A. Barnham Black, the theatre, as of January 1910 run by Messrs Lennon, Hyman, and Lennon, initially featured

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

acts and

movies A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

(then

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

s), and continued 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 ...

until 1952. It was converted into a Peoplestores store in 1953–4, and still stands today (2022), numbered 61–68 and housing several stores. The Lyric Theatre was a cinema built by owner

, completed during a builders' labourers' strike in 1912 by paying the men the wages asked for by their union. It opened on 21 December with a programme including ''The Price of a Man'' and ''Kathleen Mavourneen''. There was gallery seating at the back at which seats could be reserved, gallery seating down the sides and stalls seating in the middle. The entrance was described as being "under Muirden College". The films were billed as being put on by W. H. Bruce's Pictures in 1912. The cinema was still screening films on 17 January 2014, but soon thereafter advertisements appear for the auction of a variety of goods at the entrance to the Lyric Theatre, including jewellery, suit materials, and Japanese goods. Her Majesty's Theatre, Grote St

The Princess Theatre, built in 1912–13 for Edwin Daw, was immediately leased and renamed as the New Tivoli Theatre, and staged vaudeville acts, stage plays, and other entertainments. After the Theatre Royal in

was closed in 1962, the Tivoli was extensively refurbished and reopened as Her Majesty's Theatre, which still stands today. The old Liquor Trades Union Hall at 116 Grote Street was converted into the Promethean Theatre in the early 1980s, which featured productions by small

theatre companies Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

and drama students, as well as

Adelaide Festival The Adelaide Festival of Arts, also known as the Adelaide Festival, an arts festival, takes place in the South Australian capital of Adelaide in March each year. Started in 1960, it is a major celebration of the arts and a significant cultural ...

and Fringe Festival events. The theatre closed in 2007, but the Promethean continued to operate as a music venue.

Description

Grote Street is in Adelaide city centre. It runs in an east–west direction, as a continuation of

Wakefield Street Wakefield Street is a main thoroughfare intersecting Adelaide city centre, the centre of the South Australian capital, Adelaide, from east to west at its midpoint. It crosses Victoria Square, Adelaide, Victoria Square in the centre of the city, ...

where it crosses Victoria Square. It concludes at

West Terrace West Terrace is a populated place in the parish of Saint James, Barbados. The National Cultural Foundation of Barbados is located in West Terrace. See also * List of cities, towns and villages in Barbados This is a list of cities, towns and ...

; the road which continues is

Sir Donald Bradman Drive Sir Donald Bradman Drive (and its western section as Burbridge Road) is a major arterial road that travels east–west through the western suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia. It is the main route from the Adelaide city centre to the Adelaide A ...

. The Grote Street–Sir Donald Bradman Drive route is the most direct method of travelling from the CBD to the

Adelaide Airport Adelaide Airport , also known as Adelaide International Airport, is the principal airport of Adelaide, South Australia and the List of the busiest airports in Australia, fifth-busiest airport in Australia, servicing 8.5 million passenger ...

. Today Grote Street is largely occupied by retail outlets, restaurants, and retail outlets. Moonta Street Chinatown is accessible via Grote Street, which is also home to some Chinese restaurants and other businesses owned by

Chinese Australian Chinese Australians () are Australians of Chinese ancestry. Chinese Australians are one of the largest groups within the global Chinese diaspora, and are the largest Asian Australian community. Per capita, Australia has more people of Chinese ...

s and

Korean Australian Korean Australians are Australian citizens who trace their Korean ancestry and identify themselves as an immigrant to or a descendant born in Australia. History There is some evidence of the presence of a small number of Koreans in Australia as ...

s. The northern entrance of the

Adelaide Central Markets The Adelaide Central Market is a major fresh produce market in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. As one of the oldest markets in Australia, Adelaide Central Market has a large range of fresh food, including fruit and vegetables, meat and po ...

can also be found on Grote Street. A paifang, comprising an archway erected by the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

and two

lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adult ...

donated by the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, marks the northern entrance to the Chinatown. St Patrick's Church, Her Majesty's Theatre, and the rear entrance of the Adelaide Central bus station are also located on this street. Since the 21st century, Grote Street has become the home of various businesses selling items relating to housing construction and renovation, such as

tile Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or o ...

s, built-in furniture, and bedding. There are also apartment blocks providing accommodation for university students.

References

{{Authority control Streets in Adelaide