Site of the First Building in St Kilda

St Kilda is an inner seaside suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, six kilometres (3+1⁄2 miles) southeast of the Melbourne central business district, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. St Kilda recorded a population of 19,490 at the 2021 census. The beachfront and hill portion of the locality (between Fitzroy Street, the beach and St Kilda Road), is well known for its cafes, bars, palm trees and old flats and mansions, particularly along the main streets such as Fitzroy Street, Grey Street and Acland Street. The locality also includes the lower density areas between Barkly Street and Hotham Street, and the area south of Carlisle Street down to Dickens Street, as well as a part of Albert Park. St Kilda was named by Charles La Trobe, then superintendent of the Port Phillip District, after a schooner, Lady of St Kilda, which moored at the main beach in early 1842. From the 1850s to the 1880s in the Victorian era, St Kilda became a favoured suburb of Melbourne's elite, and many palatial mansions and grand terraces were constructed along its hills, wide streets and waterfront. After the turn of the century, the St Kilda foreshore became Melbourne's favoured playground, with electric tram lines linking the suburbs to the seaside amusement rides, ballrooms, cinemas and cafes, and crowds flocked to St Kilda Beach. Many of the mansions and grand terraces became guest houses, and some demolished or their gardens were filled in with apartment buildings, making St Kilda the most densely populated suburb in Melbourne by the 1930s. After World War II, St Kilda became Melbourne's red-light district, and the guest houses became low-cost rooming houses. By the late 1960s, St Kilda had developed a culture of bohemianism, attracting prominent artists and musicians, including those in the punk and LGBT subcultures.