Lonsdale Street
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Lonsdale Street Victoria |
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|---|---|
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| The Supreme Court of Victoria on Lonsdale Street | |
 Lonsdale Street
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| Coordinates | |
| Type | Street |
| Opened | 1837 |
| West end | Spencer Street, Melbourne |
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King Street William Street Queen Street Elizabeth Street Swanston Street Russell Street Exhibition Street Spring Street |
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| East end | Nicholson Street, East Melbourne |
| Suburb(s) | Melbourne CBD |
Lonsdale Street is a main street and thoroughfare in the city centre of Melbourne, Australia. It runs roughly east-west and was laid out in 1837 as one of Melbourne's original boundaries within the Hoddle Grid. The street extends from Spring Street in the east to Spencer Street in the west.
Lonsdale Street is home to multiple office buildings, churches, restaurants and shopping centres. Its most famous function is housing the State of Victoria's legal precinct and courthouses. The street is also named for Melbourne's first magistrate, William Lonsdale.
Lonsdale Street was included in the grid developed by Robert Hoddle, the chief surveyor for the new settlement of Melbourne. Whilst Lonsdale and other streets were originally designed at 99 feet, then Governor Richard Bourke initially objected to the large sizing. Hoddle persuaded him, on the basis of health and convenience, to allow the larger street width featured in present day Lonsdale Street.
The foundation stone for Victoria's oldest Catholic church was laid in 1841 at the corner of Elizabeth street. The church is on the Victorian Heritage Register along with the second church on Lonsdale Street, the Uniting Wesley Church completed in 1858.
In the 1860s, the Melbourne Hospital opened on Lonsdale Street, near the corner of Swanston Street.
Law Courts were erected at the south-east corner of William and Lonsdale streets in 1884 to accommodate both the Supreme Court of Victoria and County Court. The court of General Sessions and the Court of Insolvency are also nearby on Lonsdale Street.
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