SYDNEY INSIGHTS #16 - THE CROSS

The Cross is known as Sydney's red-light district, and is often seen as the home of organised crime. 
But The Cross was once known for its music halls and grand theatres and was rapidly transformed after World War II by the influx of troops returning and visiting from the nearby Garden Island naval base. 

The intersection of William Street, Darlinghurst Road and Victoria Street at the locality's southernmost limit was 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.

From the 1960s onwards Kings Cross also came to serve as both the city's main tourist accommodation and entertainment mecca. It thereby achieved a high level of notoriety out of all proportion to its limited geographical extent. Hundreds of American servicemen flocked 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. 

Apart from the famous Coca-Cola sign, the other major landmark at The Cross is the El Alamein Fountain which is at the entrance to the Fitzroy Gardens on the corner of Darlingurst Road and Macleay Street. It 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.



On a personal level, I avoid Kings Cross like the plague as its still a grotty strip full of degenerates and criminals. Yes they have cleaned it up but its still carrying the influences of drugs and organised crime.
But the main reason to avoid it is because of the out of control behaviour of revellers who often become violent on the strip with notorious recent events resulting in the death of a young man 'king hit' walking down the strip. Yes there are some nice venues, but to me its not worth wading through the crap to get to them. But its certainly living up to its reputation as our red-light district and all this comes with the territory.

J G S