Acland Street, Melbourne
Encyclopedia
Acland Street is a street in the Melbourne
suburb of St Kilda
, which enjoys great popularity as a recreational area, mainly due to its many restaurants and its proximity to the entertainment areas along St Kilda beach
Acland Street runs on a north-west to south-east axis between Fitzroy
and Barkly Streets. It was one of the first streets laid out when St Kilda was surveyed in 1842.
The north-west end of the street is largely residential, and features many fine houses from the late 19th century, some of them converted to flats or other uses, such as the Linden Gallery. The south-east end of the street, between Carlisle and Barkly Streets, is a commercial strip. The section of Acland Street between Barkly Street and Carlisle Street is a tram zone where route 96
terminates.
Acland Street is named for Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, who owned the schooner
Lady of St Kilda
between 1834 and 1840. The street was named by James Ross Lawrence, who had been master of the vessel until 1842. Lawrence was the buyer of the first block at the first sale of Crown lands in St. Kilda, which took place on 7 December 1842. The block was bounded by three unmade roads, one of which he named Acland Street after Thomas Acland, who had been his employer until 1840 but who had never been to Port Phillip District. The other two roads became Fitzroy Street and The Esplanade. (A plaque at the junction of Acland and Fitzroy Streets marks the site of the block.),
In the 1930s and 1940s this part of St Kilda was one of the centres of Melbourne's Jewish community, and Acland St featured a number of shops and restaurants catering to the Jewish community. In the 1960s, Balberyszski
bookshop
moved into the centre and stayed till 1990s. The 1950s Scheherezade cafe was formed and lingered until 2008. However the centre of the Jewish community has slowly moved eastwards to Caulfield
and Acland St lost its distinctive Jewish ambience. Some of the few great cake shops still remaining in the street date from that era.
Recently the Australian dollar, rise in shopping online coupled with high rents have been killing the centre, with many shops now vacant.
The junction of Acland St and Barkly St is known as the Village Belle, after the Village Belle Hotel, one of the oldest in Melbourne, which stands on Barkly St at the end of Acland St. Near the junction of Carlisle St and Acland St is Luna Park
, one of Australia's best-known amusement parks, which attracts large crowds during the summer. Almost next door is one of Melbourne's oldest theatres, The Palais. Also on Acland St is the St Kilda Army and Navy Club, which has recently been renovated and become a popular gambling venue.
Today Acland St has many restaurants offering a variety of cuisines, including Vietnamese, Indian, Italian and Malaysian. A large McDonalds now stands on the corner of Acland and Carlisle Streets.
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
suburb of St Kilda
St Kilda, Victoria
St Kilda is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Port Phillip...
, which enjoys great popularity as a recreational area, mainly due to its many restaurants and its proximity to the entertainment areas along St Kilda beach
Acland Street runs on a north-west to south-east axis between Fitzroy
Fitzroy Street, Melbourne
Fitzroy Street is a street in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda, which enjoys great popularity as a recreational area, mainly due to its many restaurants and its proximity to the entertainment areas along St Kilda beach...
and Barkly Streets. It was one of the first streets laid out when St Kilda was surveyed in 1842.
The north-west end of the street is largely residential, and features many fine houses from the late 19th century, some of them converted to flats or other uses, such as the Linden Gallery. The south-east end of the street, between Carlisle and Barkly Streets, is a commercial strip. The section of Acland Street between Barkly Street and Carlisle Street is a tram zone where route 96
Melbourne tram route 96
Melbourne tram route 96 is a public transport tram and light rail route in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.It is one of Melbourne's busiest tram route carrying 39,700 passengers a day with a frequency of every 10 minutes or less during peak...
terminates.
History
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
Lady of St Kilda
Lady of St Kilda
The Lady of St Kilda was a schooner which served from 1834 before being shipwrecked at Tahiti after sailing from Sydney sometime shortly after 1843....
between 1834 and 1840. The street was named by James Ross Lawrence, who had been master of the vessel until 1842. Lawrence was the buyer of the first block at the first sale of Crown lands in St. Kilda, which took place on 7 December 1842. The block was bounded by three unmade roads, one of which he named Acland Street after Thomas Acland, who had been his employer until 1840 but who had never been to Port Phillip District. The other two roads became Fitzroy Street and The Esplanade. (A plaque at the junction of Acland and Fitzroy Streets marks the site of the block.),
In the 1930s and 1940s this part of St Kilda was one of the centres of Melbourne's Jewish community, and Acland St featured a number of shops and restaurants catering to the Jewish community. In the 1960s, Balberyszski
Mendel Balberyszski
Mendel Balberyszski was a Lithuanian Jew, Polish politician and survivor of the Holocaust in Lithuania. He is chiefly known today as the biographer of the destruction of the Vilna Ghetto in his book Stronger Than Iron – The Destruction of Vilna Jewry 1941-1945: An Eyewitness Account...
bookshop
moved into the centre and stayed till 1990s. The 1950s Scheherezade cafe was formed and lingered until 2008. However the centre of the Jewish community has slowly moved eastwards to Caulfield
Caulfield, Victoria
Caulfield is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 12 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Glen Eira...
and Acland St lost its distinctive Jewish ambience. Some of the few great cake shops still remaining in the street date from that era.
Recently the Australian dollar, rise in shopping online coupled with high rents have been killing the centre, with many shops now vacant.
The junction of Acland St and Barkly St is known as the Village Belle, after the Village Belle Hotel, one of the oldest in Melbourne, which stands on Barkly St at the end of Acland St. Near the junction of Carlisle St and Acland St is Luna Park
Luna Park, Melbourne
For other amusement parks of the same name, see Luna Park; for other uses of the phrase, see Luna Park Melbourne's Luna Park is a historic amusement park located on the foreshore of Port Phillip Bay in St Kilda, Victoria, an inner suburb of Melbourne, Australia...
, one of Australia's best-known amusement parks, which attracts large crowds during the summer. Almost next door is one of Melbourne's oldest theatres, The Palais. Also on Acland St is the St Kilda Army and Navy Club, which has recently been renovated and become a popular gambling venue.
Today Acland St has many restaurants offering a variety of cuisines, including Vietnamese, Indian, Italian and Malaysian. A large McDonalds now stands on the corner of Acland and Carlisle Streets.