History & Heritage

Kings Cross, along with its adjoining locales of Potts Point and Elizabeth Bay, has a rich and risqué history.  Once the domain of grand houses and stylish apartments, "The Cross" eventually became the city red light district and an entertainment zone that never sleeps. 

But along with sailors, soldiers, tourists and suburbanites out for a night on the town, it has also been home to Sydney's Bohemia, the haunt of artists, actors, writers and musicians.  It continues to attract anyone hoping to find what the painter Donald Friend described in the 1940s as the "genuine Berlin air, of the Cross where "Everybody is wicked ".

Much of the early settlement and development in Potts Point and Elizabeth Bay is reflected in the names that are all about the area. Many of the streets and tall blocks of flats recall those who settled in the area and the grand houses that they caused to be built on their estates. For instance, Wylde Street commemorates Judge Advocate John Wylde, who received the first land grant at what was the very end of the Point in 1822; he sold a large part of his land to Joseph Potts, accountant to the bank of New South Wales and is commemorated in the name Potts Point. Macleay Street honours Alexander Macleay, then Colonial Secretary, who received the largest grant in the area in 1828. This came about because Sydney’s prominent citizens were pressing Governor Macquarie with applications for better living conditions. Darling accordingly ordered Woolloomooloo Hill, which the area had been known as since the earliest days, to be subdivided into town allotments capable of accommodating large houses and extensive gardens. Deeds of grant were issued to the socially prominent, but in particular senior civil servants. Seven grants were formalised in 1828, the rest in 1831. Macleay’s house, well known as Elizabeth Bay House, was designed by the eminent architect John Verge and is one of the few still standing today.

The 17 houses erected on these allotments were intended to establish the area as one of exclusive and stylish dwellings. “Tusculum” in Manning Street was one of these. It was built for Alexander Brodie Spark, who arrived in Sydney in 1823 as a free settler and prospered due to his activities in shipping and commerce. His 1828 grant was one of only a few made to a private individual. Architect John Verge’s plan for the house was approved by Governor Darling in 1830 and completed in 1835. It was named after the villa built by the ancient Roman orator and statesman Cicero near Rome but may well have been built for investment purposes because Sparke only occupied the house for a short time. Its elegant Georgian architecture exemplifies the houses built by the original grantees. William Broughton, Anglican archdeacon of New South Wales, moved in during 1836 after having been made Bishop of Australia and the house became a centre of hospitality second only to Government House. However, the house gradually fell on hard times and in 1983 was acquired by the State Government. Conservation work was supervised by Clive Lucas. Today it is the home of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects.

The subdivision of the estates began after economic conditions declined during the 1840s, and this was the genesis of the area as it is today. Initial subdivision took place on the periphery of the original grants, with the sale of blocks of land large enough for large houses. New streets were also established. The imposition of heavy land taxes during the 1870s led to further subdivision. By the 1890s Potts Point was one of Sydney’s fashionable suburbs and was known for its substantial houses set in spacious grounds.

Kings Cross, formerly known as Queens Cross, received its present name in 1905, allegedly because of confusion with Queens Square in the city centre.

In 1912 the completion of “Kingsclere” at 1 Greenknowe Avenue broke new ground, as it was the first of the large blocks of flats to be erected in the area. By the 1920s Potts Point and nearby Kings Cross and Darlinghurst were known for the proliferation of what were for the time tall blocks of flats.

According to historian and academic Peter Kirkpatrick, during the 1920s Kings Cross began to become “a focus for the artistically inclined … The popular perception of Darlinghurst was to change with the coming of flats to upper William Street and Potts Point, and the modern high-rise culture they brought with them: a new, ‘free’ style of city living …” (Peter Kirkpatrick, The Sea Coast of Bohemia, p.48). During the 1920s the City of Sydney experienced more flat construction than any other local government area in the state. Within its confines around half of the blocks of flats were built in Fitzroy Ward, and of these the majority were built in Kings Cross and localities close by -  “… in 1926 nearly a quarter of all flats were built in King’s Cross and a number of these were high rise (eight storeys) rather than medium rise. Kings Cross remained one of the important areas of flat building …” (Richard Cardew, “Flats in Sydney: the thirty per cent solution?” in Jill Roe (editor), Twentieth Century Sydney, pp.73-77). 

Following from the increasing population, resulting from the advent of large scale flat construction during the 1920s, the character of Kings Cross was influenced by historical events and corresponding shifts of population and patterns of use from the late 1930s through to the 1970s and beyond.  Perhaps the first of these was an influx of refugees accompanying the rise of Fascism in Europe during the 1930s. Kings Cross had attracted migrants since the 1880s and by the end of the 1920s was known as the place where Continental Europeans chose to live in Sydney (Peter Spearritt, Sydney Since the Twenties, p.244).

So by 1940 Kings Cross was noted for its the cosmopolitan and sophisticated ambience. It was

… a suburb of all nations. There is a suggestion of Montmarte about the place, and a suggestion of Budapest, and a suggestion of some Continental watering-places and seaside resorts. I am told there is also a suggestion of certain parts of New York. Most of this suggestion is due to the presence of the above-mentioned show people, of freaks and foreigners, and to the gay liveliness and colour of the numerous little shops, the neon lighting, and the unconventional ways of the local people’s dressing. The women going about at any rate make an interesting procession … most add something to the variety and picturesqueness of the street background with its gay shop displays … and by night neon advertising signs and by day coloured awnings. (Peter Spearritt, Sydney Since the Twenties, pp.96-97)

During World War II Kings Cross was inundated with American servicemen who resided while on leave in a number of the old mansions and other residences adapted for their use. It has been suggested that the “Americanisation of the Cross, the growth of night clubs and strip clubs, black market trading and rampant prostitution, dates largely from World War 2” (Elizabeth Butel and Tom Thompson, Kings Cross Album, p.105).

In the years after the war Kings Cross became famous for its live theatre, good restaurants and cafes and intellectual and artistic activities. During the 1950s, following on from the Government’s immigration policies, an influx of people from Europe and the Mediterranean regions found their way to Kings Cross, further improving its social and culinary ambience. Kings Cross became Sydney’s centre for eating out. The advent of coffee shops, borne on the back of the newly introduced espresso machine, were yet another reason for the influx of visitors to the area and the character of the area began to change from a residential to a tourist-oriented precinct (Rennie Ellis, Kings Cross, Sydney, pp.20-23). It still retained its appeal as an artistic haven, however, with institutions such as the Clune Galleries in Macleay Street acting as a major focus for modern art, while many important artists occupied studios in the area.

At the end of the 1960s history repeated itself when a second influx of American servicemen invaded Kings Cross after the advent of Rest & Recreation leave from the Vietnam War in October 1967. The program lasted until August 1970 (Rennie Ellis, Kings Cross, Sydney, pp.115-116). Kings Cross would not be the same after that time.

Roy Lumby
Heritage Architect
Chairman, The 20th Century Heritage Society of NSW