Skip to main content

                    Building Melbourne

                    Old image of the exhibition building in Melbourne

                    South Carlton Gardens, Exhibition Building and parterre garden beds (c.1920)

                    Since its founding in 1835, Melbourne has taken form from a small settlement to the vibrant city it is today.

                    ​​​Early days: the 1800s​

                    1830s to 1850s: The first churches

                    The Cathedral Church of St James first opened for worship in 1837 on the corner of Collins and William streets. One of the first subscribers to the fund to construct the building was John Batman, whose generous gift made possible the first centre of worship for pioneer families.

                    In 1839, the foundation stone for a permanent church, the new St James Church, was laid by the Superintendent of Port Phillip, Charles Joseph La Trobe. Although its first role was that of a parish church, St James became the Cathedral Church with the founding of the Diocese of Melbourne in 1847. It remained as the Cathedral Church until the completion of St Paul’s Cathedral in 1891 and was moved in 1914, to its present site on the corner of King and Batman Streets, West Melbourne. St James Cathedral is classified by the National Trust as being of national importance.

                    In 1850, construction began on St Patrick’s Cathedral to replace the small wooden structure that had been built on five acres of land granted to the church by Superintendent La Trobe. Although the first mass was celebrated in February 1858, the building was not officially opened until November.

                    1840s: Princes Bridge

                    On 22 April 1840, a company was formed to build a bridge across the Yarra River. In 1845 controversy erupted over the bridge’s location. Superintendent La Trobe favoured the end of Elizabeth Street where the water was a little over six metres deep with a thick, black mud bottom, but the company preferred Swanston Street where the depth of the water was only two metres but had a hard, gravelly bed.

                    Despite bitter arguments, the company finally had its way. On 9 June 1845, a contract for the bridge and the approaches was let. The bridge was just above the present Princes Bridge. It remained a toll bridge until it was superseded by a free government bridge, the Princes Bridge, which was officially opened on 15 November 1850 after many delays.

                    A new Princes Bridge was built and officially opened on 4 October 1888. In 1890 a seaward road bridge leading out of the city opened – known today as Queens Bridge.

                    1840s: Public Works Committee

                    In 1845 the Council appointed a Public Works Committee. Three months later the committee reported that 400 tree stumps had been grubbed from the main streets of the town but that 1000 still remained to be cleared.

                    By 1849 most of the principal streets were paved, the footpaths gravelled and the centres of the roads metalled. Some streets had kerbed and pitched water channels, while one thoroughfare even had a few oil lamps placed on wooden posts.

                    1850s: Gold rush

                    The discovery of gold in Victoria in the early 1850s had a remarkable effect on the growth of Melbourne. In October 1851 the Melbourne Morning Herald stated: ’The whole city is gold mad; the city is getting more and more deserted every day’. But this trend to leave the city was only temporary; the gold seekers usually drifted back after a week or two, some successful, some disappointed.

                    News of the discovery of gold spread all around the world and from 1852 to 1854 the average number of people arriving in Victoria by sea was 90,000 a year. From 1855 to 1858, the average was still 60,000, with less than 30,000 disappointed people departing each year over that period.

                    Victoria Dock (now Victoria Harbour) in Docklands was created to meet the demands of the accompanying mass migration. By 1854, the population of Melbourne was nearly 80,000 and by 1861 had increased to 140,000.

                    1850s: Victoria’s Parliament

                    In 1851 Victoria was separated from New South Wales and Melbourne became the capital of the colony.

                    Building commenced on Parliament House early in 1856 and was sufficiently built for it to be officially opened by the Acting Governor General, Sir Edward Macarthur, on 25 November 1856.

                    The State Parliament met in that building until the Federation of the States in 1901, when Australia became a nation. The building then became the seat of Federal Parliament, and the State Parliament transferred to the Exhibition Building (which opened in 1880), where it continued to meet until 1927 when Canberra became the official capital of Australia. The departure of the Federal Parliament for Canberra left the way open for the State Parliament to again take up residence in Parliament House.

                    For historical and visiting information, see Parliament House.

                    1860s: City taking shape

                    By 1860 Melbourne had reached its final form. Most of the land had been sold and many of the sections of the town had attracted special types of occupancies which still characterise the city today.

                    The eastern end of Collins Street had attracted members of the medical profession, while the central and western section of this same street saw insurance companies, banks and building societies established.

                    Bourke Street had its theatres and music halls, while the western section of Little Collins Street had attracted the legal profession.

                    Prior to 1860, a large fountain graced the centre of the intersection of Collins and Swanston streets, but to enable the laying of tram tracks in the mid-1860s, it was transferred to the Carlton Gardens where it still stands today.

                    1870s: Melbourne Mint

                    In 1872 the Melbourne Mint (a branch of the British Royal Mint) opened to address the problems created by the large discoveries of gold in Australia and to reduce its export as much as possible.

                    When the Sydney Mint closed in 1926, the Royal Melbourne Mint became the mint of the Commonwealth and the sole contractor for the production of Commonwealth coinage.

                    The Melbourne Mint closed in 1970. Melbourne’s Mint had been given an ‘A’ classification by the National Trust of Australia, which means it is to be preserved unconditionally. See National Trust for more information.

                    1870s: Queen Victoria Market

                    The Queen Victoria Market opened on the site of the old settlement’s first general cemetery on 20 March 1878.

                    The cemetery was closed in 1853, but was used occasionally until the Markets Lands Act 1917 gave the Council control of the old cemetery area for the market purposes. On 28 November 1921, Council approved the removal of the bodies buried there and their re-burial in the New Melbourne General Cemetery, Fawkner. The market was then extended to its present area of 13 acres.

                    See Queen Victoria Market – History for more information on the market’s long history.

                    1880s: Land booms

                    Land boomed between 1880 and 1890, with surplus government revenue and buoyant optimism creating great progress for the metropolis of Melbourne.

                    Where previously in the city three or four storey office blocks had been the highest buildings, virtually overnight eight and nine storey buildings were built by private enterprise.

                    The foundation stone of St Paul’s Cathedral at the corner of Flinders and Swanston streets was laid in 1880 and the building consecrated at the beginning of 1891.

                    The early 1890s cast a shadow on the growth of Melbourne when the land boom subsided. In 1891 and 1892, numerous banks and building societies ceased operation and by the middle of 1892, 21 financial companies were in suspension.

                    1880s: Trains and trams

                    The first steam-operated trains and railway in Australia was established by the Melbourne and Hobson’s Bay Railway Company in 1854. The four-kilometre long single line ran from Flinders Street to a pier at Sandridge (Port Melbourne). It was officially opened by Governor Sir Charles Hotham on 12 September 1854.

                    The first cable tramway opened in 1885 and ran from the corner of Spencer and Flinders streets to Richmond. In 1886, to permit the extension of the cable-tram lines to Collins Street, the Bourke and Wills Monument was removed from the corner of Russell and Collins streets and repositioned in Spring Street.

                    By 1887, more than 32 km of tramway system had been constructed. The Crown Law offices in Lonsdale Street and the Railway Offices in Spencer Street were also built during this period.

                    ​Building a city: the 20th Century

                    The turn of the 20th Century saw a surge of activity in Melbourne.

                    The Council Baths (now City Baths) in Swanston Street were built in 1903. In 1906, the first electric tram service was introduced and operated from the cable-tram terminus at Flemington. A large number of public buildings were constructed, including Flinders Street Station, City Court and the Melbourne Hospital (now Queen Victoria Hospital).

                    1920s and 30s

                    After World War 1, the construction of many public buildings continued, including Spencer Street Bridge in 1929. The entire railway system became electric between 1918 and 1923; the conversion of cable trams to electric trams commenced in 1925 and concluded in the late-1930s.

                    Due to the worldwide depression of the 1930s, World War 2 and postwar building restrictions and material shortages, building development in Melbourne remained fairly static until the early-1950s.

                    1950s: Skyscrapers

                    Melbourne’s central business district (CBD) boomed in the 1950s and 1960s. Its first skyscraper, ICI House, was completed in 1958. In the lead up to the 1956 Olympic Games, the removal of verandahs further contributed to the physical change occurring in the CBD.

                    In the 1960s, the first stage of the Arts Centre Melbourne was opened, as was the National Gallery of Victoria.

                    This period of growth and development also saw the start of construction of the West Gate Bridge.

                    1960s: Docklands

                    Growth of Victoria Dock continued well into the 1930s, but it wasn’t until the 1960s that huge containers replaced bales and crates formerly used to transport goods. Docklands’ sheds and wharves could not accommodate the containers and soon ceased to be Melbourne’s hub of economic and maritime activity.

                    1970s: Underground railway

                    Building works that altered the city’s skyline and character in the 1980s and 1990s included the redevelopment of the Melbourne City Baths, State Library of Victoria, the old Queen Victoria Hospital site and the Queen Victoria Market.

                    The installation of light towers at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Yarra Park in 1985 and the construction of the National Tennis Centre in Melbourne Park (formerly Flinders Park) saw major alterations to the landscape of one of Melbourne’s principal assets, namely its parks and gardens.

                    The 1990s saw a lot of development in Melbourne, including Southbank, Crown Entertainment Complex and the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

                    In 1991, the Docklands Authority was established to transform the disused port and rail area of Docklands into a modern urban waterfront. Redevelopment began in 1996.

                    Also during this period, Melbourne’s laneways and arcades underwent a revival and were upgraded with bluestone paving, street furniture and lighting.

                    ​Modern Melbourne: the 21st Century

                    In 2000, the new ultra-modern Melbourne Museum opened in the Carlton Gardens, sitting alongside the Royal Exhibition Building. Development continued at Southbank creating a vibrant community on the waterfront, and the striking new public space of Federation Square opened in 2002.

                    Originally a separate development without local government representation, Docklands was incorporated into the City of Melbourne through legislation on 1 July 2007. Its governance is shared between the City of Melbourne and the Victorian Government's land development agency, Places Victoria.

                    Docklands already encompasses a series of distinct areas while being well-connected to the central city. It continues to be developed as Melbourne’s urban waterfront with community priorities being identified through the Docklands Community and Place Plan released in July 2012. Upon completion  (envisaged for 2020), Docklands is hoped to be home to 20,000 residents, attracting many thousands of workers and visitors on a daily basis.

                      Was this page helpful?

                      If you'd like to give more feedback or ask a question, please contact us.