Elizabeth Street is a street in Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

Description and history

Elizabeth Street runs south from Hunter Street

Hunter Street, Sydney

Hunter Street is a cross street in the Central Business District of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It stretches from George Street in the west to Macquarie St in the east. The street was originally named Bell Street. It is named after Governor Hunter, the second Governor of NSW....

, past Hyde Park

Hyde Park, Sydney

Hyde Park is a large park in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Hyde Park is on the eastern side of the Sydney central business district. It is the southernmost of a chain of parkland that extends north to the shore of Port Jackson . It is approximately rectangular in shape, being squared at the...

 and David Jones

David Jones Limited

David Jones Limited , colloquially known as DJs, is a high-end Australian department store chain.David Jones was founded in 1838 by David Jones, a Welsh immigrant, and is claimed to be the oldest continuously operating department store in the world still trading under its original name. It...

, Central station

Central railway station, Sydney

Central Railway Station, the largest railway station in Australia, is at the southern end of the Sydney CBD. It services almost all the lines on the CityRail network, and is the major terminus for interurban and interstate rail services...

 and through the inner city suburbs of Surry Hills

Surry Hills, New South Wales

Surry Hills is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Surry Hills is located immediately south-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Sydney...

, Redfern

Redfern, New South Wales

Redfern is an inner-city suburb of Sydney. Redfern is 3 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney...

, Waterloo

Waterloo, New South Wales

Waterloo is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Waterloo is located 4 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney.-History:...

 and Zetland

Zetland, New South Wales

Zetland is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Zetland is located 4 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Sydney....

. The street is approximately 8.6 kilometres long and passes through a mixture of residential and commercial areas.

Elizabeth Street was originally known as Mulgrave Street, but was renamed by Governor Lachlan Macquarie

Lachlan Macquarie

Major-General Lachlan Macquarie CB , was a British military officer and colonial administrator. He served as the last autocratic Governor of New South Wales, Australia from 1810 to 1821 and had a leading role in the social, economic and architectural development of the colony...

 in 1810 for his second wife, Elizabeth Henrietta Campbell (1778-1835).

Points of interest

• Martin Place Special Area: this street is historically significant as a site of various monuments, including the Cenotaph. It was established as a meeting place in front of the GPO in 1863. Further development and evolution took place through the 1880s and 1930s, until the site was completely pedestrianised in 1970.
• Hyde Park: this is the oldest park in Australia, having been named by Governor Macquarie in 1810. The designer, Norman Weekes, won a 1926 design competition. The park includes the Oddfellows War Memorial (1921), the Archibald Fountain (1932) and Sandringham Gardens (1954), and has a state heritage listing.
• Museum Station: this station was designed by J.J.C.Bradfield as part of the City Circle rail system. It was built between 1922 and 1926 and has a state heritage listing.
• St James Station: started by the Chief Engineer of Metropolitan Railway Construction, St James was a vital link in the City Circle. It was built on two levels. Work commenced in 1916 but was held up by lack of funds. Work resumed in 1922. The station has a state heritage listing.
• Sydney Dental Hospital: the dental hospital was established in 1908 when the Dentists Act of 1901 put dentistry on an organised footing. It is run by the Faculty of Dentistry at Sydney University.
• David Jones Market Street Store: designed by Mackellar and Partridge in 1938, plus Crawford H.Mackellar 1941, built 1938. The lower six floors were built between the wars, the upper floors were built after World War II. It represents one of the first examples of aluminium-framed windows in Sydney. The building has a state heritage listing.
• Former Registrar's Office: built late 1850, designed by Alexander Dawson, Colonial Architect, with a Tudor Gothic stone exterior, as part of the Supreme Court. Additions were by James Barnet
  James Barnet
  James Johnstone Barnet was the Colonial Architect for New South Wales from 1862 - 1890.-Life and career:Barnet was born at Almericlose, Arbroath, Scotland. The son of a builder, he was educated at the local high school...
  
   in 1877 and 1886. The building is heritage-listed.
• Obelisk (facing Bathurst Street): this obelisk was based on Cleopatra's Needle in London, circa 1857. It is actually a sewerage vent in the Victorian Egyptian style. It is heritage-listed.
• Great Synagogue: located on the west side of Elizabeth Street, this synagogue was designed by Thomas Rowe, circa 1878. It seats 1600 people on the ground floor and is heritage-listed.
• Downing Centre: formerly Mark Foy's department store, this building was designed by McCreedy and Anderson in 1908. The upper four storeys were added in 1928, having been designed by H.Ross and Rowe.
• Central Railway: designed by Walter Liberty Vernon
  Walter Liberty Vernon
  Walter Liberty Vernon was an English architect who migrated to the state of New South Wales, Australia and pursued his career as an architect in Sydney...
  
  , Central Railway has been described as the grandest railway station in Australia. It was built of sandstone from 1901-1906 and is one of the first examples of reinforced concrete in Australia. It is listed on the Register of the National Estate
  Register of the National Estate
  The Register of the National Estate is a listing of natural and cultural heritage places in Australia. The listing was initially compiled between 1976 and 2003 by the Australian Heritage Commission. The register is now maintained by the Australian Heritage Council...
  
  .
• Redfern Park: this park is located between Elizabeth, Chalmers and Redfern Streets and includes an oval, sandstone perimeter walls, entrance gates, fountain and war memorials. Was the scene of the launch of the Australian Celebration of the 1992 International Year of the World's Indigenous Peoples. Has a state heritage listing.
• Waterloo Park: this park is located between Elizabeth, Kellick, Pitt and Allen Streets. The north-west corner contains the Mt Carmel Church, which was established in 1858.
• Mt Carmel Church and School: the school was first established in 1858 under the Benedictine Order. A new school was built in 1876. The church was begun in 1859 and was designed by William Monroe. The presbytery was opened in 1890. The complex has a state heritage listing.
• Waterloo Town Hall: this town hall is listed as a substantial representative of the Victorian Italianate style. It was designed by Edward Hughes and built 1880-81. It is historically significant as an example of the small, inner-city councils in Sydney and is heritage-listed.

Transport

Elizabeth Street was a busy electric tram

Trams in Sydney

The Sydney tramway network once served Sydney, the capital city of New South Wales, Australia. In its heyday, it was the largest in Australia, the second largest in the Commonwealth , and one of the largest in the world. It was extremely intensively worked, with about 1,600 cars in service at any...

 corridor for most services to and from the eastern suburbs until the closure of the lines in 1961. The street is now a busy bus

Buses in Sydney

Buses are a major part of public transport in the city of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Services are operated by both a large government operator, the State Transit Authority of New South Wales , and numerous smaller private operators...

corridor to and from the eastern suburbs.