Currie Street, Adelaide

Currie Street is a main street in the Adelaide city centre, South Australia.[2][3] It runs east–to–west from King William Street, through Light Square, to West Terrace on the western edge of the city centre.

Currie Street

South Australia
South side of Currie Street, looking east from Light Square
General information
TypeStreet
Length1.1 km (0.7 mi)[1]
Opened1837
Major junctions
Eastern endKing William Street
 Light Square
Western endWest Terrace

History
Currie Street looking east, circa 1925
Currie Street, looking northwest from Light Square
Currie Street, looking west from King William Street

The street was named after British MP Raikes Currie (1801–1881), a founder of the South Australian Company and treasurer of the South Australian Church Society. Currie was a beneficiary of slavery through his family bank, Curries & Co.[4] The street was named after Currie by the Street Naming Committee in 1837.

English benefactor William Augustine Leigh (1802–1873),[5] who bought many parcels of land in South Australia through his agent Sir John Morphett, bought two town acres[6] between Currie and Hindley Streets; hence the naming of Leigh Street,[7] a now pedestrianised street between the two, and a popular dining area.[8]

Thomas Topham Petheridge, of Plymouth, was a land grantee of Town acre 138 on Currie Street south side, and of Town acre 176 on Waymouth Street north side.[9] Topham Street, now closed, which ran between Currie and Waymouth Streets over the land granted to Petheridge, was named eponymously.[10] The street is now the site of Topham Mall.[11] In July 2012, bus lanes were introduced along the full length of Currie Street.[12][13]

Continuing east and west

Glover Avenue

The street changes its name to Glover Avenue at West Terrace as it continues west through the Adelaide Park Lands and Bakewell Underpass. Glover Avenue was opened in 1925 and was named after the previous Lord Mayor of Adelaide, Charles Richmond Glover. The Bakewell underpass opened in 2008, and replaced the Bakewell Bridge which opened with Glover Avenue in 1925. The Bakewell Bridge was named after Edward Bakewell, the chairman of the Municipal Tramways Trust.[14]

The purpose of the Bakewell Bridge was to reduce motor vehicle and tram traffic congestion on limited routes between the western suburbs and the Adelaide city centre. Glover Avenue and the Bakewell Bridge replaced a level crossing and Henley Beach Road crossing the parklands on a different alignment. The bridge carried tram and motor traffic over some busy railway lines.[15] The trams were removed in the 1950s.

The bridge continued in use until it was in need of replacement. It was demolished in 2006. The bridge was replaced by the Bakewell Underpass which continued under James Congdon Drive to provide a grade-separated intersection. It opened for traffic on 13 January 2008.[16][17]

Henley Beach Road

It then changes name to Henley Beach Road as it continues through the western suburbs to the seaside, terminating at Henley Beach South.

Prior to construction of Glover Avenue in 1925, Henley Beach Road did not align to Currie Street. Glover Street veers right (north) from Currie Street. Prior to its construction, Henley Beach Road crossed the railway at a level crossing and continued as Mile End Road straight across the Adelaide Park Lands to align with Hindley Street. The tram line followed North Terrace and the first part of Port Road on the bridge over the railway, then swung south to join Henley Beach Road.[18]

Grenfell Street

On the east side of King William Street, it changes name to Grenfell Street. A common belief for the name change that happens at King William Street with Grenfell/Currie St is that the namers believed no one should be able to cross the King's path. This applies to all streets that meet King William Street.[19][20]

Notable buildings

The Queen's Theatre, on Playhouse Lane and connected to Currie Street by Gilles Arcade, is the oldest theatre in mainland Australia. Built in 1840 (the present façade dates from 1850). the building has had a number of uses:

  • 1840-1842 Queen's Theatre & Shakespeare Tavern
  • 1843-1850 Supreme Court & Temple Tavern
  • 1850-1868 Royal Victoria Theatre & Theatre Tavern
  • 1877-1928 Horse and Carriage Bazaar
  • 1928-1988 Car park and light industry

The building is now owned by Arts South Australia, and after partial restoration in the 1990s, is now used as a performance space and function venue.

See also

Australian Roads portal

References
  1. Google. "Currie Street, Adelaide" (Map). Google Maps. Google.
  2. 2003 Adelaide Street Directory, 41st Edition. UBD (A Division of Universal Press Pty Ltd). 2003. ISBN 0-7319-1441-4.
  3. Map of the Adelaide city centre, North Adelaide and the Adelaide Park Lands.
  4. Coventry, CJ (2019). "Links in the Chain: British slavery, Victoria and South Australia". Before/Now. 1 (1). doi:10.17613/d8ht-p058.
  5. Press, Margaret M. "Leigh, William Augustine (1802–1873)". Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Published first in hardcopy 2005. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  6. "Town Acre Reference Map - Map of the City of Adelaide". South Australian Government. Data SA. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  7. denisbin. "1854 Bible Christian Methodist Church Clarendon, Adelaide Hills South Australia". Flickr. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  8. Mack, Melissa (25 September 2013). "Leigh Street to stay closed". InDaily. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  9. "EARLY ADELAIDE". The Register (Adelaide). South Australia. 27 December 1913. p. 18. Retrieved 22 January 2020 – via Trove.
  10. "Nomenclature of the Streets of Adelaide and North Adelaide" (PDF). State Library of South Australia. Retrieved 22 January 2020. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. Carol Fort (2008). Keeping a Trust: South Australia's Wyatt Benevolent Institution and Its Founder. Wakefield Press. p. 37. ISBN 978-1-86254-782-7.
  12. Installation of bus priority lanes Grenfell Street, Currie Street & East Terrace Department of Planning, Transport & Infrastructure May 2012
  13. Adelaide bus lanes Australian Bus issue 53 September 2012 page 6
  14. "NEW CITY FACILITIES". The Register (Adelaide). XC (26, 518). South Australia. 23 December 1925. p. 10. Retrieved 9 February 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
    • "THE LUNCHEON". The Register (Adelaide). XC (26, 518). South Australia. 23 December 1925. p. 10. Retrieved 9 February 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. "MUNICIPAL EFFICIENCY". The Register (Adelaide). XC (26, 518). South Australia. 23 December 1925. p. 8. Retrieved 9 February 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  16. "Placename Details: Bakewell Underpass". Property Location Browser Report. Land Services, Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure, Government of South Australia. 6 September 2010. SA0038266. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  17. "Bakewell Underpass". Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure, Government of South Australia. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  18. Fuller, W. G (1920), Reference map of Adelaide and suburbs, W. G. Fuller, retrieved 10 February 2019
  19. Adelaide, King William Street; Australia, S. A. "King William Street | Adelaidia". adelaidia.sa.gov.au. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  20. "AdelaideAZ". adelaideaz.com. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
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