{{Short description|Street in Sydney, Australia}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2015}} {{Use Australian English|date=March 2018}} [[File:Rowe street sydney nsw.jpg|thumb|The remaining part of Rowe Street, Sydney]] '''Rowe Street''' is a narrow [[laneway]] in the [[Sydney central business district|central business district]] of [[Sydney]] in [[New South Wales]], Australia. Originally running between [[Castlereagh Street]] and [[Pitt Street]], what remains is now just a short lane running east–west off Pitt Street.
==History== Rowe Street was named in honour of [[Thomas Rowe]] (1829–1899), a prominent [[architect]] in the [[colony of New South Wales]].<ref>{{Australian Dictionary of Biography|last=Freeland|first=J. M.|year=1976|id=http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A060077b|title=Rowe, Thomas (1829–1899)|accessdate=26 December 2009}}</ref> Originally, Rowe Street ran between Castlereagh Street and Pitt Street, parallel to [[Martin Place]].{{cn|date=February 2026}}
The street was a centre for Sydney's bohemian life from the late 19th century until the 1970s, described in 1931 as "the primrose path of dalliance". It may have been the birthplace of Sydney's famous [[Sydney Push|push movement]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article159792373 |title=Rowe-Street |newspaper=[[The Sydney Mail|Sydney Mail]] |volume=XXXIX |issue=1012 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=19 August 1931 |access-date=29 July 2016 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> The precinct included the original [[Theatre Royal, Sydney|Theatre Royal]], the [[Playbox Theatre, Sydney|Playbox Theatre]], art studios and galleries, restaurants, cafés and [[café|coffee shop]]s, many well-known fashion, clothing, interior design, and jewellery shops. [[Rowe Street Records]] was one of the first specialist import record stores in Australia.<ref>[http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/inspired/rowest/ Remembering Rowe Street]</ref>
In 1956 [[Mervyn Horton]], the gay editor, art collector, and philanthropist opened Galleria Espresso, an espresso bar and art gallery at 27 Rowe Street.<ref>[http://www.elisarolle.com/queerplaces/klmno/Mervyn%20Horton.html Queer Places] Retrieved 17 July 2023.</ref>
Most of the Rowe Street precinct, including the palatial [[Hotel Australia]], was demolished in the early 1970s to make way for the [[MLC Centre]], a monolithic modernist edifice designed by Sydney architect [[Harry Seidler]].{{cn|date=February 2026}}
==Description== Today, Rowe Street runs east–west off Pitt Street. The only remaining building from the 19th century is [[The Sydney Club]] on the corner of Pitt and Rowe Streets (previously known as the Millions Club).{{cn|date=February 2026}}
==See also== * [[History of Sydney]] {{stack|{{Portal|Australian Roads}}}}
==References == {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{cite web | url = http://dictionaryofsydney.org/place/rowe_street | title = Rowe Street | accessdate = 29 September 2015 | date = 2008 | work=[[Dictionary of Sydney]]}} <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Creative Commons license|CC-By-SA]]<nowiki>]</nowiki>
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{{Streets of Sydney Australia}}
[[Category:Streets in Sydney]] [[Category:Sydney central business district]]