Potts Point, New South Wales

Infobox Australian Place | type = suburb
name = Potts Point
city = Sydney
state = nsw


caption = View across Potts Point to the Sydney CBD, from St Neot Avenue.
lga = City of Sydney
postcode = 2011
est =
pop = 7,165
area = 0.7
propval = [http://www.domain.com.au/public/suburbprofile.aspx?mode=%20$257,000&searchterm=potts%20point#mapanchor $1,337,500] (2007)
stategov = Sydney
fedgov = Wentworth
near-nw =
near-n = "Port Jackson"
near-ne =
near-w = Woolloomooloo
near-e = Elizabeth Bay
near-sw = Darlinghurst
near-s = Darlinghurst
near-se = Rushcutters Bay
dist1 = 3
dir1 = east
location1= Sydney CBD

Potts Point is a small, densely-populated suburb of inner-city Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Potts Point is located 3 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney.

Potts Point sits on a ridge immediately east of Woolloomooloo, west of Elizabeth Bay and Rushcutters Bay and north of Darlinghurst. The suburb has a roughly trapezoidal shape, and at its greatest extent is no more than 1 kilometre long by 200 metres wide. Potts Point's eastern boundary is Macleay Street. The suburb's other boundaries include Darlinghurst Road to the southeast, William Street to the south, Brougham Street and part of Cowper Road to the west.

Kings Cross and Garden Island

Kings Cross is not an officially designated suburb of Sydney, but rather a locality encompassed entirely by the suburbs of Potts Point and Elizabeth Bay. Kings Cross is a commercial area that is dominated by bars, restaurants, nightclubs, strip clubs and adult bookstores.Kings Cross railway station is situated beneath Darlinghurst Road in Potts Point. The Garden Island facility of the Royal Australian Navy sits on the north end of Potts Point.

History

Potts Point is named for Joseph Hyde Potts, who was employed by the Bank of New South Wales. He purchased six-and-a-half acres of harbourside land in an area then known as Woolloomooloo Hill - which he renamed Potts Point.

Much of the area that today comprises Potts Point and the adjacent suburb of Elizabeth Bay, originally constituted part of a land grant to Alexander Macleay, who was the New South Wales Colonial Secretary from 1826 to 1837, and for whom Macleay Street is named. NSW Judge Advocate, John Wylde (for whom Wylde Street is named) was another 19th-century public servant who owned land in the area. [Book of Sydney Suburbs, Frances Pollon (Angus and Robertson) 1990, page 208]

19th Century

The area was further subdivided after Macleay's time, and a number of grand Georgian mansions were built along the high point of the suburb's ridge line. Several of these survive (albeit much hemmed in by later buildings), including 'Rockwall House' and 'Tusculum'. Rockwall House, one of Potts Point's few surviving Georgian mansions, is now overshadowed by modern apartment developments. Tusculum now serves as the headquarters for the NSW chapter of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects. Most of the other mansions, such as Orwell, have survived only as street names. The area also boasts many fine Victorian-era terraces. These are chiefly located along Victoria Street, which bisects Potts Point from north to south, and is widely known for its impressive canopy of plane trees.

20th Century

Potts Point was the site of some of Australia's earliest apartment buildings, and from the 1920s through to World War II the area was intensively developed along those lines. As a result, it boasts the highest concentration of Art Deco architecture in Australia. Amongst the most notable examples are the "Macleay Regis", "Cahors" and "Franconia" apartment buildings in Macleay Street, and what are arguably two of the finest Streamline Moderne buildings in Australia: the Minerva (or Metro) Theatre and the Minerva Building in Orwell Street. The Metro Theatre (as it was then known) was the site of the first Australian production of the musical "Hair" in 1970. During the Vietnam War, the Darlinghurst Road precinct (commonly known as Kings Cross), which straddles Potts Point and Elizabeth Bay, became a popular destination for US military personnel on R&R - due chiefly to its proximity to a major naval facility. Partially as a result of this, the area attracted organised crime syndicates and developed an unsavoury reputation as Australia's drugs and prostitution capital. Dozens of hotels constructed at the time ensured that "The Cross" remained a tourism mecca well into the 1990s.

21st Century

At the turn of the 21st century, almost all of Potts Point's hotels were acquired by developers attracted by the area's proximity to transportation and amenities. By 2004 most tourist hotels had been converted or rebuilt as high end apartment developments, resulting in a rapid wider gentrification of the area - and increasingly large gay community - although the continued presence of a number of large backpacker hostels along with dozens of pubs, nightclubs, restaurants and similar venues have confirmed the suburb's role as one of Sydney's leading entertainment precincts. Sydney City Council has commenced a major streetscape upgrade centred on Darlinghurst Road and the southern part of Macleay Street, involving footpath-widening, roadside tree-plantings and the installation of new paving, street furniture and lighting. Plans to force the replacement of historic neon shopfront and awning signage on strip clubs and other adult commercial premises in the area with generic signage proved more controversial and have not been implemented.

Transport

Kings Cross railway station is an underground station on the Eastern Suburbs railway line of the CityRail network.

Politics

Potts Point has been administered alternately by South Sydney Council and Sydney City Council at various periods throughout its history. In March 2004 it again reverted from management by the former to the latter as a result of a series of local council mergers endorsed by the state government of New South Wales.

Population

Demographics

The population is 7,165 residents (9,007 including overseas visitors) according to the ABS 2001 Australian census, giving it one of the highest population densities in the country.

Notable Residents

* former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating
* actor David Wenham
* comic artist Nicola Scott
* actress Raelee Hill
* sports commentator Gordon Bray
* presenter Indira Naidoo
* writer Mandy Sayer [http://www.kxol.com.au/sayer.htm]
* producer Stephen Carnell [http://www.kingscrossonline.com.au/page.asp?3507=403904&E_Page=371317]

* radio producer George Cruickshank

References

*

External links