
Shortland Street, Auckland
Shortland Street was the initial commercial street of Auckland[1] and remains a key financial and legal centre for Auckland city.[2] It runs east from Queen Street up to Princes Street, providing a connection from the business district to the Auckland High Court and University of Auckland.
Length
History[edit]
Shortland Street, initially called Shortland Crescent, was the initial main street of Auckland, built close to the shoreline of Commercial Bay (since reclaimed),[3] established and metalled by 1844.[4] Fore Street (now Fort Street) was built a block north on the shore of Commercial Bay in 1850.[3] The street was named for Willoughby Shortland, the first Colonial Secretary of New Zealand.[5][6]
Shortland Street was the earliest commercial hub of Auckland.[7][4] John Logan Campbell, David Nathan, and other early business figures in Auckland established their first stores on Shortland Street in the 1840s. The street was also ceremonially used as a way to visit Point Britomart (then a military camp), by figures such as Governor William Hobson.[5] In 1858, a major fire broke out on the street, destroying the wooden buildings in the area.[5]
By the 1860s, Queen Street had eclipsed Shortland Street as the primary commercial street for the township, after the land reclamation of Commercial Bay.[7][4] The street was home to the Auckland Star, one of the major newspapers for Auckland in the late 19th and 20th centuries, as well as the Auckland Club, a gentlemen's club.[5]
Soap opera Shortland Street was named for the street,[5] after it was originally planned to be filmed in a TVNZ-owned studio at 74 Shortland Street.