Kings Cross intersection in the 1950s

Kings Cross is an inner-city locality of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately 2 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district. The area is encompassed within the suburbs of Potts Point and Elizabeth Bay, which have both been administered by the City of Sydney since March, 2004. Image File history File links Kings_Cross_Sydney_1950. ... Image File history File links Kings_Cross_Sydney_1950. ... The Sydney Opera House on Sydney Harbour Sydney (pronounced ) is the most populous city in Australia, with a metropolitan area population of over 4,200,000 people, and 151,920 within the city centre. ... Capital Sydney Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Professor Marie Bashir Premier Morris Iemma (ALP) Federal representation  - House seats 50  - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05)  - Product ($m)  $305,437 (1st)  - Product per capita  $45,153/person (4th) Population (End of March 2006)  - Population  6,817,100 (1st)  - Density  8. ... A view of the Sydney CBD from the Harbour Bridge, the Circular Quay is in the foreground Map of the CBD The Sydney central business district (CBD) extends southwards for about 2 km from Sydney Cove, the point of first European settlement. ... Potts Point is a small, densely-populated suburb of inner-city Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. ... Elizabeth Bay is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. ... This article is about the local government area. ... March is the third month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... shelby was here 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The area is infamous in Australia as being a red-light district, similar to Kings Cross in London) with numerous strip clubs and "girlie" bars along Darlinghurst Road, although many now accuse the City Council of seeking to gentrify the area, and the demographics have changed in recent years. It is also known for its Neon signs and advertising posters, the most famous being the iconic Coca-Cola sign. It is often referred to by Sydneysiders by the affectionate colloquialism "the Cross". The De Wallen red-light district in Amsterdam A red-light district is a neighborhoooood where prostitution and other businesses in the sex industry flourish. ... Kings Cross refers to a district in two places: Kings Cross, London, England Kings Cross railway station is a major London railway terminus and Kings Cross, New South Wales is a district in Sydney, Australia Kings Cross railway station, Sydney is an underground railway station in Sydney. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Neon signs are often used to advertise for hotels, bars and entertainment venues. ... The wave shape (known as the dynamic ribbon device) present on all Coca-Cola cans throughout the world derives from the contour of the original Coca-Cola bottles. ... Sydneysider, or Sydneyite is the term used to refer to residents of Sydney, the capital city of New South Wales, Australia. ...

Kings Cross is also the most densely populated place in Australia with a population of around 20,000 people in a 1.4 square kilometre area.^[1] Kings Cross consists chiefly of a retail and entertainment precinct extending approximately 100 metres along both sides of Darlinghurst Road. Population density by country, 2006 Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. ...

History

Early settlement

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. A panoramic view of the Blue Mountains The Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia, are situated approximately 100 kilometres west of Sydney. ...

In the early 1800s the Governor of NSW granted several large estates to favoured subordinates and leading businessmen. They built a series of grandiose mansions with sprawling gardens of up to ten acres (40,000 m²). The remnants of these gardens helped give the area of its leafy character, and many of the mansions are commemorated in street names, such as Kellett Street.

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. Elizabeth Bay House is a historic home in the suburb of Elizabeth Bay in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. ...

Bohemian district

William Street and Kings Cross from the air in the 1950s

Known as Queen's Cross until the early 20th century, it was renamed King's Cross after Edward VII of the United Kingdom. The "cross" is a reference to the major intersection formed by William Street and Darlinghurst Road, which forms the locality's southernmost limit. Image File history File links William_Street_Sydney_from_air. ... Image File history File links William_Street_Sydney_from_air. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999... Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, King of the Commonwealth Realms, and the Emperor of India. ... William Street from the air in the 1950s William Street is a major thoroughfare in Sydney, Australia. ...

The Kings Cross district was Sydney's bohemian heartland from the early decades of the 20th Century. From the 1960s onwards it 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. Flag of Bohemia Bohemia (Czech: ; German: ) is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western and middle thirds of the Czech Republic. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ... The De Wallen red-light district in Amsterdam A red-light district is a neighborhoooood where prostitution and other businesses in the sex industry flourish. ...

The area boomed during the late 1960s, with hundreds of American servicemen on R & R leave flocking to the area each week in search of entertainment. Organised crime and police corruption was well entrenched in the area—one of Sydney's most notorious illegal casinos operated with impunity for many years, although it was known to all and located only yards from Darlinghurst police station. Much of this activity can be related with Abe Saffron, commonly known as Mr Sin or "the boss of the Cross". This inevitably led to a rise in crime, vice and corruption, and a massive increase in the influx and use of heroin, much of which was initially brought in by American servicemen in the pay of drug rings.^{[citation needed]} Organized crime is crime carried out systematically by formal criminal organizations. ... Abraham Gilbert Saffron (6 October 1919 - 15 September 2006), was an Australian nightclub owner and property developer who was widely reputed to have been one of the major figures in Australian organised crime in the latter half of the 20th century. ... Heroin ((INN) Diacetylmorphine, (BAN) diamorphine) is an opioid synthesized directly from the extracts of the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum. ...

During the late 1970s and 80s, drug-related crime was one of the area's main social problems, leading to the controversial establishment of Australia's first legal drug injecting room (where users of illegal drugs can inject themselves in clean conditions without harassment) at a shopfront site near Kings Cross railway station in May, 2001. As an example of harm reduction; the injecting room is credited with saving the lives of some injecting drug users who have overdosed at the facility since its inception.^{[citation needed]} DEA Operation Mallorca, 2005 Drugs are related to crime in multiple ways. ... Kings Cross railway station is an underground railway station in Sydney, Australia. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Harm reduction is a philosophy of public health, intended to be a progressive alternative to the prohibition of certain lifestyle choices. ...

Since the turn of the 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.

The local business action group is the Kings Cross Partnership and the major annual event each autumn is the Kings Cross Food and Wine Festival An editor has expressed a concern that the subject of the article does not satisfy the notability guideline or one of the following guidelines for inclusion on Wikipedia: Biographies, Books, Companies, Fiction, Music, Neologisms, Numbers, Web content, or several proposals for new guidelines. ... The next Kings Cross Food and Wine Festival is planned for Sunday 6th of May 2007 at the Fountain in Fitzroy Gardens Kings Cross Sydney The Kings Cross Food & Wine Festival celebrates the outstanding abundance, diversity and quality of food and wine in this unique area. ...

Transport

Kings cross is serviced by the Kings Cross railway station an underground railway station on the Eastern Suburbs Line. Kings Cross railway station is an underground railway station in Sydney, Australia. ... The Eastern Suburbs Railway line was constructed in the 1970s. ...

Notes and references

2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... March 7 is the 66th day of the year (67th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

• Sydney Explorer

State Transit Authority Logo. ...

External links

Coordinates: 33°52′35″S 151°13′12″E / -33.87633, 151.22003 Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...

• Maps and aerial photos
  • Street map from Street Directory, MSN Maps and Multimap.
  • Satellite image from Google Maps, WikiMapia and Terraserver.
  • Topographic and bathymetric map from Bonzle Digital Atlas of Australia.