The street, laid out as part of
Colonel Light's city plan in 1837, was named after
George Grote, an English classical historian and supporter of
Robert Gouger.
Churches The original
St Patrick's Church, Adelaide's first
Catholic church, was built from around 1845 on what is now Gray Street. It was the principal place of worship for Catholics until
St Francis Xavier's Cathedral opened on
Wakefield Street in 1858. A much larger building, designed by
Woods Bagot, was built between 1912 and 1914, and still stands today, on the corner of Gary Street. The original church building was demolished in 1959. These included
Sturt Street Public School (1883),
Flinders Street Model School (1878), and
Currie Street Model School (1893). On the site, additional educational facilities were built. In June 1876, a
teachers' training college opened, also designed by Woods. In 1891, the
Advanced School for Girls opened, which was the first state secondary school in the
colony of South Australia, as well as the first state school for girls above primary level. It was designed by Owen Smyth in 1890, and built by J. J. Leahy. In 1978, the
Centre for the Performing Arts was established on the site of the old Adelaide Girls High School. Nos. 109-119 Grote Street, the buildings comprising the schools, were state-
heritage-listed in 1981.
Trades Hall The United Trades and Labor Council (UTLC), established in 1884, constructed a
Trades Hall on the northern side of the street, near Victoria Square. Although not financially supported by the
colonial government, it was funded by various private donations by parliamentarians, including
Richard Chaffey Baker,
George Charles Hawker, and
John Howard Angas. The building was officially opened on 4 March 1896. In the early 1900s
Robert Barr Smith donated £2,300 to pay off the outstanding
mortgage. He leased a group of two-storey shops with a frontage, built in 1906, for about 20 years. Part of these later became the Empire Theatre. In 1909, Bruce converted the upper storey of two of his shops into an amusement hall used for screening films by means of a
photo-rotoscope, called Golden Gate Hall. Toys were sold in this hall, with films shown periodically, every afternoon and evening, for free. This lasted for a year before being converted back into a large storage room. Apart from his large retail stores, Bruce ran what were known as "cheapjack" stalls at the market, basically a type of
lottery or "sixpenny dip", where buyers would offer a coin for an unknown purchase. In 1918, Bruce amalgamated his considerable business interests in
New South Wales with those in South Australia, forming the company W. H. Bruce Limited, which had a capital value of £150,000, with £47,000 being in fully paid-up shares. Bruce allocated 5,000 shares to current employees of the business, and 1,000 to past employees. In 1929, having taken over
Conrad's butcher in
Hindley Street (possibly upon Conrad's death in 1918), Bruce had butcher shops in Grote Street,
Rundle Street,
Port Adelaide, and
Glenelg. He was later described as a "great businessman". There was still a business concern named W. H. Bruce in 1954, which opened a new food store (of meats) at 13–15 Grote Street in December 1954. In 1931, an arcade was constructed through the shops formerly leased by Bruce, to create a northern entrance to the
Adelaide Central Market. initially featured
vaudeville acts and
movies, then
silent films. It continued as a
picture theatre It still stands today (2022), numbered 61–68 and housing several stores. ;Lyric The Lyric Theatre was a cinema built by owner
W. H. Bruce, completed during a builders' labourers' strike in 1912 by paying the men the wages asked for by their union. and
Kathleen Mavourneen. There was gallery seating at the back where seats could be reserved, gallery seating down the sides and stalls seating in the middle. The entrance was described as being "under Muirden College". The films were billed as being put on by W. H. Bruce's Pictures in 1912. The cinema was still screening films on 17 January 2014, but soon thereafter advertisements appear for the auction of a variety of goods at the entrance to the Lyric Theatre, including jewellery, suit materials, and Japanese goods. ;Princess/New Tivoli/Her Majesty's The Princess Theatre, built in 1912–13 for Edwin Daw, was immediately leased and renamed as the New Tivoli Theatre, and staged vaudeville acts, stage plays, and other entertainment. After the
Theatre Royal in
Hindley Street was closed in 1962, the Tivoli was extensively refurbished and reopened as
Her Majesty's Theatre, which still stands today. ;Promethean The old Liquor Trades Union Hall at 116 Grote Street was converted into the Promethean Theatre in the early 1980s, which featured productions by small
theatre companies and drama students, as well as
Adelaide Festival and
Fringe Festival events. The theatre closed in 2007, but the Promethean continued to operate as a music venue. ==Description==