Brunswick Street, Melbourne
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Brunswick Street Victoria |
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| Brunswick Street as it runs through Fitzroy | |
| Type | Street |
| Length | 2 km (1.2 mi) |
| Route number(s) |
 State Route 45 |
| North end |
St. Georges Road, Fitzroy North, Melbourne
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| South end |
 Victoria Parade, Fitzroy, Melbourne
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Johnston StreetBrunswick Street is a street in inner northern Melbourne, known for cafés, live music venues and alternative fashion shops.
Brunswick Street runs north-south through the inner northern Melbourne suburbs of Fitzroy and Fitzroy North, from Victoria Parade at its southernmost end, crossing Alexandra Parade, and continuing until it reaches St Georges Road in Fitzroy North, near the Edinburgh Gardens; there, its former northward course is continued by a much smaller residential street named Brunswick Street North.
Tram route 11 runs along the entire length of Brunswick Street for part of its journey.
Brunswick Street, believed to be named after Captain Brunswick Smythe, owes its origins to Benjamin Baxter, who owned a lot of land along Victoria Parade, in the recently proclaimed township of Newtown (now Brunswick South). Baxter's lot was Lot 49, which was adjacent to Lot 48 on the north-west corner of Victoria Parade and Nicholson Street. In 1839 Baxter subdivided his lot into quarters, creating roads between the subdivisions. These became Brunswick Street and Gertrude Street. Initially, Brunswick Street only ran as far as what is now Hanover Street. In 1840, Mr R. S. Webb subdivided Lot 70, which was to the north of Baxter's lot. This extended Brunswick Street further north to Bell Street (originally known as Hamburg Street). The street was officially proclaimed in 1851.
Shops had appeared on Brunswick Street as early as the 1840s. By 1854 the strip rivalled Bourke Street as a shopping district.
After World War Two, large numbers of immigrants (principally from Mediterranean Europe) settled in the inner suburbs of Melbourne, including Fitzroy. Among them there were many Italians, who in turn imported espresso machines and established the foundations of Melbourne's café culture.
For some decades, the suburb of Fitzroy was a working-class area of low rents and cheap shops. This area began to attract students, artists and bohemians. The T. F. Much Ballroom commenced in Cathedral Hall (now called 'Central Hall', just opposite St Vincents Hospital, in Brunswick Street, in 1970. The T. F. Much was the heart of Melbourne's music scene and saw stand out performances by Daddy Cool, Spectrum (and Murtceps), Carson, Capt Matchbox as well as several of Joe Camilleri's earlier incarnations.
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Wikipedia