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Fitzroy Melbourne, Victoria
High Victorian architecture in Brunswick Street
Population:	8,776 (2001)[1]
Established:	1850s
Postcode:	3065
Area:	1.4 km²
Property Value:	AUD $555,000 [2]
Location:	3 km from Melbourne CBD
LGA:	City of Yarra
State District:	Richmond
Federal Division:	Melbourne
Suburbs around Fitzroy Carlton North Fitzroy North Clifton Hill Carlton Fitzroy Collingwood Melbourne East Melbourne Richmond

Fitzroy is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is in the Local Government Area of the City of Yarra. Its postcode is 3065.

Fitzroy is one of the oldest suburbs in Melbourne and is bordered by Victoria St/Parade, Nicholson St, Smith St, and Alexandra Parade. The heart of Fitzroy can be found in Brunswick Street, which is one of Melbourne's major retail, eating, and entertainment strips.

Fitzroy's residential streets are characterised by narrow one way lanes.

Fitzroy takes its name from Sir Charles Augustus FitzRoy, the Governor of New South Wales from 1846-1855.

Contents 1 History 2 Local Landmarks 2.1 Non-Residential Architecture 2.2 Residential Architecture 3 Culture and sport 3.1 Art 3.2 Live performance 3.3 Pubs 3.4 Sport 4 Health 5 Transport 6 References 7 External links

Fitzroy was Melbourne's first suburb, created when the area between Melbourne and Alexandra Parade (originally named Newtown) was subdivided into vacant lots and offered for sale. Newtown was later renamed Collingwood, and the area now called Fitzroy (west of Smith Street) was made a ward of the Melbourne City Council. On 10 September 1858, Fitzroy became a municipality in its own right, separate from the City of Melbourne. Surrounded as it was by a large number of factories and industrial sites in the adjoining suburbs, Fitzroy was ideally suited to working mens' housing, and from the 1860s to the 1880s, Fitzroy's working class population rose dramatically. The area's former mansions became boarding houses and slums, and the heightened poverty of the area prompted the establishment of several charitable, religious and philanthropic organisations in the area over the next few decades.

The establishment of the Victorian Housing Commission in 1938 saw swathes of new residences being constructed in Melbourne's outer suburbs. With many of Fitzroy's residents moving to the new accommodation, their places were taken by post-war immigrants mostly from Italy and Greece, and the influx of Italian and Irish immigrants saw a marked shift towards Catholicism from Fitzroy's traditional Methodist and Presbyterian roots. The Housing Commission would build two public housing estates in Fitzroy in the 1960s: one in Hanover Street and one at the southern end of Brunswick Street.

Like other inner-city suburbs of Melbourne, Fitzroy underwent a process of gentrification during the 1980s and 1990s. The area's manufacturing and warehouse sites were converted into apartments, and the corresponding rising rent prices in Fitzroy saw many of the area's residents move to Northcote and Brunswick.

In June 1994, the City of Yarra was created by combining the cities of Fitzroy, Collingwood and Richmond.

The Moran and Cato warehouse designed by R.A. Lawson is considered to be of high architectural merit. The Old Tramways sheds are on the Victorian Heritage Register. The Champion Hotel is notable for its fanciful Edwardian design.

Fitzroy Town Hall clock tower	Old Tramways Sheds. cnr Nicholson Street	Champion Hotel. cnr Brunswick Street	Four storey terrace with mansard roof on Johnstone street
Perseverence Hotel. Brunswick Street	Fitzroy High School

Fitzroy features some of the finest Victorian era architecture in Melbourne. Among the earliest homes, Royal Terrace (1853-1858) on Nicholson Street overlooking the Carlton Gardens was one of the first terrace houses in Melbourne.

Royal Terrace, Nicholson Street

Late Victorian terrace houses

Long rows of "boom style" terraces in Nicholson Street

Fitzroy is considered one of the centres of contemporary art in Melbourne. There are many small commercial art galleries, artist-run spaces and artist studios located within the suburb. Fitzroy has a thriving street art community and is also the home of Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces and the Centre for Contemporary Photography.

Fitzroy is a hub for live music in Melbourne, and plays host to several prominent venues: the Rob Roy Hotel, Bar Open, the Evelyn Hotel, Gertrudes Brown Couch, Cape Live and the Empress Hotel (in Fitzroy North). The well-known Punters Club was also located in the area; however, it was forced to close in 2002.

The offices of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival are in Johnston Street.

The former Devonshire Arms hotel was located in Fitzroy Street and remains the oldest building in Fitzroy.

The Fitzroy Football Club (the Fitzroy Lions) was formed in 1883 as part of the VFL/AFL. The club had some early success before relocating its home games several times and finally running into financial difficulties in the 1980s, forcing it to merge with the Brisbane Bears to form the Brisbane Lions. The club sponsors the Fitzroy Reds who play in the Victorian Amateur Football Association and play out of the Brunswick Street Oval.

The health needs of Fitzroy residents and other Melburnians is served by St Vincent's Hospital. It is a well staffed and equipped hospital. It also houses one of the clinical schools of University of Melbourne's medical course.

There are no railway stations or train lines in Fitzroy. The nearest train stations are Rushall in North Fitzroy, Collingwood and Parliament.

Three tram lines pass through Fitzroy or its boundaries:

• Route 86 (Bundoora-Docklands): travels along Nicholson Street, Gertrude Street and Smith Street.
• Route 96 (East Brunswick-St Kilda): travels along Nicholson Street.
• Route 112 (West Preston-St Kilda): bisects Fitzroy along Brunswick Street.

• Gazetteer of Australian Places, Monash University, 20 April 2000 (archived on the Internet Archive).

Coordinates: -37.801° 144.979°

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

Suburbs of the City of Yarra
Abbotsford | Alphington | Burnley | Carlton North | Clifton Hill | Collingwood | Cremorne | Fairfield | Fitzroy | Fitzroy North | Princes Hill | Richmond |