Kings Cross
An inner-city locality of Sydney, approximately 2 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, Kings Cross is colloquially known as The Cross. For many years Sydney's red-light district, it was once known for its music halls and grand theatres, but it was rapidly transformed after World War II by the influx of troops returning and visiting from the nearby Garden Island naval base. Today, it is known for its bars, restaurants and nightlife.
Since the turn of the 20th century, Kings Cross has witnessed a large number of real estate developments, both refurbishments of historic apartment buildings and the construction of new ones. This has resulted in demographic changes as affluent professionals are increasingly residing in the area and are in turn significantly altering the character of the area. A number of upmarket bars now attract a changing clientele to the area.
In 2001, the area was recognized as the most densely populated in Australia, with 20,018 people living within a 1.4 km2 (0.54 sq mi) area.
The Kings Cross Food and Wine Festival is a local annual event held in autumn by the Kings Cross Partnership, a business action group.
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Kings Cross Organic Food and Farmers Markets
Macleay St, Potts Point
Trading: Every Saturday 8am 2pm
Type: Farmers, Produce, Organic, *Wheel Chair Friendly, Food
Phone: (02) 9999 2226
Kings Cross Rotary Sunday Markets
El Alamein Foutain,Kings Cross, Potts Point NSW 2011, Australia
Trading: Every Sunday 9.00am to 5.00pm
Type: Art & Craft, Antique & Collectables, Bric-a-Brac, Designers, Vintage/Retro, Fashion, Handmade, *Wheel Chair Friendly, Food, Preloved
Phone: 0406 354 564
El Alamein Fountain
The El Alamein Fountain is at the entrance to the Fitzroy Gardens on the corner of Darlingurst Road and Macleay Street was commissioned as a memorial to soldiers who died in 1942 during World War II in two battles at El Alamein, Egypt. It was designed in 1961 by the New Zealand-born architect Robert Woodward. Its dandelion design, which has since been copied for fountains around the world, was Woodward s original design.
Les Girls building
The Les Girls building, now known as the Empire Hotel, stood prominently on the corner of Darlinghurst Road and Roslyn Street, in the heart of the Cross. From 1963 until 1993 the building was home to the legendary Les Girls drag queen show, starring Carlotta. Throughout the 1990s the building, still retaining its original 1960s features, became the home to alternative cabaret, including the much loved Sunday night club The Tender Trap.
The Poo Sticks
"A good idea gone wrong," is how Sydney Morning Herald art critic Bruce James described Ken Unsworth's artwork, which sits atop the Kings Cross tunnel. It has since become known as "the poo sticks".
Coca-Cola Billboard
The Coca-Cola Billboard, usually referred to by Sydneysiders simply as The Coke Sign, is often regarded as an iconic landmark than as an advertisement. The red and white neon billboard was erected in 1974 in its current location whilst the left side of the billboard was a later addition in 1990. The location was considered perfect for the sign, given that the soft drink was being marketed at the time as "king-size Coca-Cola." In 2004 the billboard for the first time in thirty years advertised a product other than Coca Cola, when the left side of the board advertised the release of Halo 2.
Darlinghurst Fire Station
The Fire Station at the intersection of Darlinghurst Road and Victoria Street was designed by the Government Architect, Walter Liberty Vernon, and built from 1910-12. It is an example of the Federation Free Style and is now listed on the Register of the National Estate.
The Kings Cross Tunnel is a road tunnel made up of twin 3-lane tubes beneath the locality in inner eastern Sydney known as Kings Cross. Traffic from the city enters the tunnel via William Street at Darlinghurst Road, emerging at Waratah Road, near where William Street becomes New South Head Road. It was constructed by the cut and cover method and the airspace above the tunnel later sold for development. The tunnel was coordinated with the construction of the Eastern Suburbs Railway as they are in close proximity to each other. Construction of the tunnel began in June 1973; its was opened to traffic on 15th December, 1975 and completed at a cost of $21.3 million, including $13.1 million for property acquisition.
The purpose of the tunnel was to reduce the conflict between through traffic, local traffic and cross traffic in the Kings Cross precinct. The importance of the tunnel itself has been reduced following the construction of the Cross City Tunnel (opened in June 2005) which bypasses the Sydney CBD altogether.
The intersection of William Street, Darlinghurst Road and Victoria Street is the actual "cross" to which the name refers, the area now referred to as King Cross is actually part of the suburb of Potts Point. It was originally named Queens Cross to celebrate Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee in 1897. Confusion with Queens Square in King Street in the city prompted its renaming as Kings Cross, after King Edward VII, in 1905. During the early 19th century the Kings Cross-Potts Point area was one of Sydney's most prestigious suburbs, being far enough to escape the noise and smell of the central city but close enough for easy travel. An additional attraction was the commanding harbour views to the east and north and (from some points) views to the west as far as the Blue Mountains.
In 1828, the Governor of NSW Sir Ralph Darling subdivided the area, then known as Woolloomooloo Hill, into large allotments which he granted seventeen estates to favoured subordinates and leading businessmen. They built a series of grandiose mansions with sprawling gardens of up to ten acres (4 ha). The remnants of these gardens helped give the area its leafy character, and many of the mansions are commemorated through street names such as Roslyn, Orwell and Kellett. Most of the grand estates were ultimately subdivided with all but a handful of the great houses demolished. One of the surviving estates is Elizabeth Bay House, a quintessential example of Australian colonial architecture. Others, now used for other purposes, include Tusculum in Manning Street and Rockwall.
The Kings Cross district was Sydney's bohemian heartland from the early decades of the 20th century. The illegal trading of alcohol, known as sly grog, was notorious in the area up until mid-century, led by rival brothel owners, Tilly Devine and Kate Leigh. The area was home to a large number of artists, including writers, poets and journalists including Kenneth Slessor, Christopher Brennan, Hal Porter, George Sprod and Dame Mary Gilmore, actors including Peter Finch and Chips Rafferty, and painter Sir William Dobell.
From the 1960s onwards Kings Cross also came to serve as both the city's main tourist accommodation and entertainment mecca, as well as its red-light district. It thereby achieved a high level of notoriety out of all proportion to its limited geographical extent. Hundreds of American servicemen on R & R (rest and recreation leave) flocked to the area each week in search of entertainment.