Murray Street is one of four main east-west streets within the Perth central business district (CBD).

History

The street, the central portion of which has become a pedestrian mall, was named after Sir George Murray, Secretary of State for War and the Colonies from 1828 to 1830. It is the one main street in Perth that has an eastern ending at a church – the Roman Catholic St Mary's Cathedral; the other major churches in the CBD are on the sides of the city streets. The western end of Murray Street also once had a church with St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church sitting on Havelock Street opposite the end of Murray Street. Murray Street was extended to Outram Street in 1937 and St Patrick's was demolished. Murray Street was later extended further west to Thomas Street. The intersections with the north-south running streets include Murray Street, where the Wentworth Hotel has been on the corner for over 100 years, though the earlier hotel at the location had a different name. The mall was created later than the Hay Street mall and its central section had no hotels whereas Wellington, Hay and St Georges Terrace have. The number of historic arcades linking with the Hay Street mall is significant compared to other parts of the CBD. The western and eastern ends of the street have had significant changes in land use compared to the central section.

Shops and malls

The strip has many popular shops lining the street including flagship outlets for department stores such as Myer, David Jones, Woolworths and Target. Recent development along Murray Street has seen the addition of a number of both national and international retailers including – Nespresso, Swarovski, G-Star Raw, Quiksilver, General Pants Co., Aquilla, Industrie, Hurley, Pandora, Zara and many more.

East Precinct

The Murray Street East Precinct includes the heritage listed area between Pier Street and Victoria Square. Notable buildings/features within the heritage precinct include;

Access

The Murray Street mall is directly connected to Perth railway station by an entry at the west end of the mall, and via Forrest Place to the original Perth railway station and the Museum of Western Australia. Parking garages are also located nearby.

Major intersections