Spencer Street, Melbourne

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Spencer Street


General direction	Northwest-Southeast
From	Dynon Road and Dryburgh Street, West Melbourne
via	Melbourne CBD
To	Whiteman Street and Normanby Road, Southbank
Major Junctions	Dudley Street La Trobe Street Lonsdale Street Bourke Street Collins Street Flinders Street

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Former Melbourne Mail Exchange, at the corner of Bourke and Spencer Streets

Southern Cross Station, formerly Spencer Street Station, during redevelopment

Sir Charles Hotham Hotel on the corner of Flinders and Spencer, built in 1914, it is one of the last works by architect William Pitt

Spencer Street is a major street in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is named for John Spencer, 3rd Earl Spencer, Chancellor of the Exchequer under Lord Melbourne, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Running roughly from north to south, Spencer Street forms the western edge of the Hoddle Grid. To the south Spencer Street becomes Clarendon Street, and to the north, Dynon Road.

The street was once considered an unfashionable and unnattractive end of town, but with the construction of Melbourne Docklands and Southern Cross Station and demolition of some eyesores, such as the power station, the area is becoming more sought after for residents and construction of several high rise apartment buildings began in the late 1990s.

Important buildings on Spencer Street include Southern Cross Station (formerly Spencer Street Station), the offices of The Age newspaper, the former Mail Exchange, Grand Hotel (former Victorian Railways administration offices), the former Sir Charles Hotham Hotel and the HM Melbourne Assessment Prison. For many years, Spencer Street was also the location of Melbourne's General Post Office.

The street is also home to the 1890 era Spencer Street Power Station which has been abandoned since 1982. The power station was asbestos-ridden, with demolition beginning in 2006.