Potts Point, New South Wales

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The view across Potts Point and Woolloomooloo to the Sydney CBD, from St Neot Avenue.

Potts Point is a small, densely-populated suburb of inner-city Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately 3 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney. The postcode is 2011.

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. However, within its boundaries resides a population of 12,931 (according to the 2002 Australian census), giving it one of the highest population densities in the country. Potts Point's eastern boundary is Macleay Street. The suburb's other boundaries include Darlighurst Road to the southeast, William Street to the south, Brougham Street and part of Cowper Road to the west, and the Garden Island facility of the Royal Australian Navy to the north.

[edit] Kings Cross

It should be noted that while Kings Cross railway station is situated beneath Darlinghurst Road in Potts Point, 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.

[edit] 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 harbouside 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 Wilde (for whom Wilde Street is named) was another 19th century public servant who owned land in the area.

1930s Art Deco and Spanish Mission style apartment buildings stand cheek-by-jowl in Tusculum Street.

[edit] Mansions

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, the latter of which now serves as the headquarters for the NSW chapter of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects. Most of the others, such as Orwell, have survived only as street names.

[edit] Apartments and Art-Deco Architecture

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 Cahors and Frankonia 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. The area also boasts many fine Victorian-era terraces. These are chiefly located along Victoria Steet, which bisects Potts Point from north to south, and is widely known for its impressive canopy of plane trees.

[edit] Kings Cross

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.

Rockwall House, one of Potts Points' few original Georgian mansions, is now overshadowed by modern apartment developments.

[edit] 21st century changes

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 — 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 and Australia's leading entertainment precincts.

[edit] Local Government

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 government of New South Wales.

[edit] Streetscape changes

Subsequently 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.

[edit] Notable Residents

• former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating
• actor David Wenham
• writer Mandy Sayer

[edit] External links

Coordinates: -33.86795° 151.22411°

• Maps and aerial photos
  • Street map from Street Directory, MSN Maps and Multimap.
  • Satellite image from Google Maps, WikiMapia and Terraserver.