Lime Street, Liverpool
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The street was named for lime kilns owned by William Harvey, a local businessman. When the street was laid out in 1790 it was outside the city limits, but by 1804 the lime kilns were causing problems at a nearby infirmary. The doctors complained about the smell, and so the kilns were moved away, but the street name remained unchanged. With the arrival of the railway line in 1836, the street moved from a marginal to a central location in the city, a position that confirmed by the creation of St George’s Hall, on the side of the street opposite the railway station, in 1854. Wellington’s Column, a monument to the Duke of Wellington was built to mark one end of the street, at the corner with William Brown Street.
Wikipedia
It must have had a very frontier atmosphere in the 19th century. It was beyond the edge of the old town boundary. All that changed with two arrivals.
The railway first in 1851, then in 1856 and St George’s Hall, which opened in 1854. St George’s Hall turned Liverpool from a provincial north of England town, to the second city of Empire. Its nearness to the station is of great significance. It was Liverpool’s message to the world. . . . Lime Street was full of atmosphere, pubs and people. Some guide books will tell you of the ladies of the night. Its famous pubs were of the early 20th century. The Crown, The Vines, otherwise known around here as the Big House. The American Bar, which is older than both of those. At the beginning of the 20th century it also became a Mecca for the new entertainment – the cinema. Several cinemas including very famous ones like the Forum, have occupied this ground since before the first world war.
BBC: Local History Liverpool
The Radisson RED Liverpool Hotel is a historic building in Liverpool, England. It is located on the east side of Lime Street, fronting Lime Street railway station. Opened in 1871 as the North Western Hotel, it more recently served as office space and student accommodation. It was restored as a hotel from 2018 to 2022. The building is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building. Opened as a railway hotel in 1871 by the London and North Western Railway the hotel served Lime Street railway station. The design was by Alfred Waterhouse, containing 330 rooms. The hotel closed in 1933, subsequently becoming Lime Street Chambers for a while before closing once again. . . . The building is constructed in stone with a slate roof in the Renaissance Revival style resembling a French château. The baroque details are in the Second Empire style, common for this time period. It has five storeys, a basement and an attic, and is in 21 bays. The end bays and the bays flanking the three-bay centre are carried up into towers. The central entrance is round-arched, and is flanked by Doric columns.
Wikipedia