North Terrace: Cultural Boulevard
Trail Description
Explore Adelaide’s political, cultural, and educational institutions, as well as grand residences, established in this classic nineteenth century boulevard.
Start with Adelaide's first church and finish up at Ayers House, Adelaide's finest Victorian mansion.
The Ayers House museum is managed by the National Trust of South Australia and offers guided tours of the house daily.
Locations for Trail
Holy Trinity Church
Holy Trinity is the perfect introduction to the city because of its connection to South Australia’s early settlement. This church is one of the oldest buildings in the city. It has been in this prominent position since 1838.
The planned colony of…
Adelaide Railway Station
This grand structure has greeted railway passengers arriving in the city for more than 80 years. Built in the 1920s, the Adelaide Railway Station marks a period of transformation in the state’s railway system. It was a celebrated achievement at the…
Old Parliament House
The first government in South Australia was quite different to what we have today. Governing power over the new British colony was divided between a board of four men and the Governor. This council met regularly in the Sitting Room of Government…
Parliament House
This Parliament House, on the corner of North Terrace and King William Road, is the second one built for South Australia. It replaced its neighbour Old Parliament House.
By the early 1870s the colony’s population and prosperity was growing. There was…
Government House
The official residence of South Australia’s Governor has always been on North Terrace. However, the first one was quite different to the building we see today.
Shortly after establishing the colony, the crew of the HMS Buffalo built a small and crude…
Adelaide Club
The Adelaide Club was built for some of South Australia’s most influential political, rural and business men. Many of the state’s who’s who have been members, including Robert Barr Smith, Sir Thomas Elder and Peter Waite.
It was designed as a social…
Institute Building
This is the starting point of North Terrace’s cultural precinct. It is South Australia’s first institute and the boulevard’s first cultural building. It was also once home to South Australia’s state cultural organisations, including the library, the…
State Library of South Australia: Jervois Wing
This was the first of three new buildings planned to ease the pressure on space in the nearby Institute Building. By 1874, it was decided that the public library, museum and art gallery would move to a new building nearby on North Terrace. However,…
South Australian Museum: North Wing
The oddly plain northern wing of the South Australian Museum stands out beside the grand architecture of the East Wing and the Jervois Wing of the State Library. The wing was meant to be temporary, hence its more modest brick façade. It was built…
South Australian Museum: East Wing
In January 1895, Adelaide celebrated the opening of the South Australian Museum’s North Wing. The museum, which had housed both in the Institute Building and the Jervois Wing, had moved to the new building due to a lack of space. Just 18 months…
Art Gallery of South Australia
The Art Gallery of South Australia, along with the library and museum, had several temporary homes. The Gallery occupied the Institute Building, the Jervois Wing of the State Library, and the former Jubilee Exhibition Building. It was the last of the…
University of Adelaide: Mitchell Building
The University of Adelaide was South Australia’s first university. It was established in 1874 by an Act of Parliament and the South Australian government set aside land on North Terrace for the new university. While work on the buildings took place,…
University of Adelaide: Elder Hall
Ten years after the first lectures began at the University of Adelaide, the School of Music was established. Many South Australians, including composer and former Governor Sir William Robinson, had agitated for such a school. Its founding in 1884 was…
University of Adelaide: Bonython Hall
Bonython Hall is a prominent feature on North Terrace. It is also right in the centre of the vista as you make your way north along Pulteney Street from the South Terrace parklands. Bonython Hall is the reason Pulteney Street never ventured further…
Freemasons Hall
As with the nearby Adelaide Club, this imposing building was constructed as a meeting place for men. Specifically, it was for men who belonged to the Freemasons.
Freemasonry is an organisation that evolved from stonemasons’ guilds in Great Britain in…
The School of Mines and Industry
In 1886 there were moves to create a school in South Australia for technical and practical instruction in engineering, mining, agriculture and other industries. The school was set up two years later. Sir John Langdon Bonython, the namesake of the…
Ayers House
As one of the last mansions on North Terrace, Ayers House is a rare sight. This bluestone mansion is a well-known feature of the city, partly because of its most famous owner, Sir Henry Ayers.
Henry Ayers arrived in South Australia in 1840, four…
Trail Postscript
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