The street was named after
Daniel Bell Wakefield, the solicitor who drafted the Act which proclaimed Adelaide. Like his brother
Edward Gibbon Wakefield, he was also involved in the South Australia Association in London, but never visited Adelaide. In 1911 the Willard Hall and Willard Guest House were opened by the
South Australian branch of the WCTU, named after
Frances Willard,
United States national president of
Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). The building, previously St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, was situated on the south side of the road, west of the east side of
Gawler Place. In 1928 an old bell was found in the tower, which was probably the first bell cast in Adelaide and made for the church. A 1939 photograph shows the new
art deco additions to the building, and the premises of Frank J. Siebert, Funeral Director, on the left. The Central Picture Theatre, designed by R. R. G. (Rowland) Assheton (who also designed the
Grand Picture Theatre in Rundle Street, among others) opened at no. 70 in 1912, featuring
silent films until its first
talkie screened in 1930. On Saturday 14 May 1938, after a change of ownership and complete refurbishment, Wakefield Street New Star; and the Wakefield Street Star Theatre.). One reviewer described it as "the most modern theatre in S.A.". Architect
Chris Smith had designed the new interior, and furnishings were supplied by
John Martin's The refit was in Art Deco style. The Star closed around 1959 or 1960 and reopened in 1962/63 as a Greek theatre, the Pantheon. It was demolished (date unknown) The cinema was situated adjacent to the
Wakefield Hotel on its western side. The hotel had existed on this site, on the corner of Divett Place, since 1864, and the stone building stands at no. 76. In 1927 its licensees were M.G. Henderson and V. Kenny. It is a stone building with cream brick decoration. until January 2020, when the new
Calvary Adelaide Hospital opened on
Angas Street. The
Unitarian Christian Church which once stood opposite Francis Xavier's Cathedral was sold to the Public Service Association in 1971. It was replaced with a government building known as the "Wakefield House", a 20-storey building in
brutalist style completed in 1980. St Stephen's (or Stephani) Evangelical Lutheran church was also on the north side, between Roper and Ackland streets. The church was founded by Rev. Dr
Ernst Johann Eitel in 1900 to replace a smaller building in Pirie Street. He was succeeded in 1906 by F. W. Basedow. ==Location and description==