Princes Street (often misspelt as "Princess Street"^[1][2]) is a major street in Dunedin, the second largest city in the South Island of New Zealand. It runs south-southwest for two kilometres from The Octagon in the city centre to the Oval sports ground, close to the city's Southern Cemetery. North of The Octagon, George Street continues the line of Princes Street north-northeast for two and a half kilometres. Princes Street is straight but undulating, skirting the edge of the City Rise to its northwest. The part of the street immediately below The Octagon is the steepest section, as the road traverses an old cutting through Bell Hill.

Princes Street was developed during Dunedin's 1860s boom from the Central Otago gold rush, and consequently is one of New Zealand's most historic streets, with about 70 buildings in close proximity listed on the New Zealand Historic Places Trust Register. Originally the site of the city's wharf, a substantial area of land to the east of the street was formerly part of Otago Harbour, much of it reclaimed via rock removed during the lowering of Bell Hill which separated Princes Street from northern Dunedin in the early years of settlement.^[3] In the years following the gold rush, Princes Street was the heart of Dunedin's central business district, but much of the city's main retail area has now shifted north to George Street.

In the early years of Dunedin's settlement, much of the city's growth was on two areas of reasonably flat land close to the harbour, separated by the large Bell Hill and an area of low swampy land.^[3] The northern of these two flat areas surrounded the floodplain of the Water of Leith, a small river that runs through Dunedin. As the city grew the swamp was drained to become the new city's centre, and the hill was lowered by excavation to allow access between the two areas of settlement. A street grid was set up with the main road split in two by the city centre (now The Octagon) – Princes Street to the south and George Street to the north. As with many of the city's other place names, both these names and that of the Water of Leith reflect the names of places in Edinburgh, Scotland.^[4]

In the settlement's early days, Bell Hill proved a major obstacle to travel south of the city centre, and major excavation work was carried out to provide access to the south. A cutting was made in the hill in 1858, and during the 1860s the hill was lowered by some 14 metres (46 ft).^[5] The cutting allowed for the passage of transport between the two parts of the town. The southern flank of the hill was also completely removed (that area now being occupied by Queen's Gardens). The stone removed from the hill was used as construction material for many of the city's first permanent buildings, and also as fill to reclaim the northern end of the Southern Endowment along the edge of the harbour.^[6] This reclamation work added a considerable area to the central city; the original docks, close to the Exchange area of Princes Street, are now several hundred metres inland.

The area of Princes Street between the Exchange and Market Reserve was a frequent source of dispute in the early years of European settlement. This area, at that time on the foreshore of Otago Harbour was a traditional landing site for Māori waka. Captain Cargill, the founder of the new city, wished to follow the British practice of keeping the foreshore as public land. As the town spread, the area around the landing site became populated by settlers, and visiting Maori relied on the coastal strip as a place to set up their encampments. The southern Commissioner for Crown Lands, Walter Mantell noted the problem and proposed to his superiors in Wellington that a site be found at which the Māori could erect permanent structures, naming the Princes Street foreshore as the preferred site. Mantell and Cargill, who had been bitter political opponents for the control of the early settlement, quickly found themselves at loggerheads over the proposal, and disputes over the ownership and allocation of the land dragged on for over two decades, finally being settled in the courts in 1877.^[7][8]

In the years following the Central Otago Gold Rush of the 1860s Dunedin grew rapidly, with much of the growth being centred on Princes Street. In the city's early years this road was notorious for its unformed rough nature, a consequence of the work on Bell Hill, and led to Dunedin's early nickname of "Mud-edin".^[9] The prosperity brought by the gold rush led to a boom in construction, and within a handful of years, the area around lower Princes Street became the most prosperous in the country. Many of the prominent grand buildings of this part of Dunedin date from this period, and numerous structures in the area have New Zealand Historic Places Trust classification as a result.

There is a considerable photographic record of early Princes Street, largely thanks to the presence in the street of the studios of the Burton Brothers, pioneering New Zealand photographers.^[10] Many of their images, and those of other early Dunedin photographers, were collated and published in a series of books by photographic historian Hardwicke Knight, one of which — a collection of photographic works by Daniel Louis Mundy — was entitled Princes Street by gaslight (1977).^[11]

Several notable companies have either been founded or had their headquarters in Princes Street. Notable among these were The Drapery and General Importing Company of New Zealand, later simply known as The D.I.C., Hallenstein's, and H.E. Shacklock. The first New Zealand headquarters of Briscoes were also located on Princes Street.

In 2018, Whakamana Cannabis Museum, New Zealand's first and only cannabis museum, relocated to the Eldon Chambers Building on Princes Street,^[12] though it has since moved to Christchurch.

The top section of Princes Street, from the Octagon to the Exchange, has for many years been a nexus for Dunedin's public transport system. Until the 2010s, buses from the north of the city largely passed along George Street and into the Octagon; since that time they have largely avoided George Street, being routed through a new bus hub in Great King Street. Buses from the south pass into the southern end of Princes Street, and those from the hill suburbs arrive at the Octagon via Stuart Street or at the Exchange via High and Rattray Streets. Almost all of these use upper Princes Street between the Exchange and the Octagon as part of their route.^[33]

In the city's early years trams followed many of these same routes. Until the demise of the system in the 1950s, this area was also at the heart of the Dunedin cable tramway system, with the longer lines running up the slopes of City Rise via High, Rattray, or Stuart Streets.^[34][35]

Few, if any, streets in New Zealand contain as many Heritage New Zealand Category I or Category II protected buildings as Princes Street. These buildings include the following:

• The Haynes' Building, 42–72 Princes St (cnr. Princes St and Moray Place) (Category I). Often now known as the Savoy Building after the restaurant which is its main tenant, this four-storey building was designed by Edmund Anscombe and completed in 1914. The building, with its distinctive cupola, is a major landmark of upper Princes Street, lying one block south of the Octagon.^[36]
• The Queen's Building, 109 Princes St (Category II). An early, if small, skyscraper, the five-storey Queen's Building was completed in 1929 on the site of the former Queen's Theatre, to a design of J. Louis Salmond.^[37]
• Excelsior Apartments, 33 Dowling Street (cnr. of Dowling and Princes Sts) (Category II). Standing at the heart of Dunedin's 19th century Central Business District, the Excelsior Apartments are an 1888 structure originally built as a tavern and hotel. The building was designed by Robert Forrest.
• The National Bank Building, 193 Princes St (Category I). Designed by William Dunning, an Australian architect, and Charles Fleming MacDonald, this building is reminiscent of many of the grander buildings in Melbourne and Sydney. Constructed in a neo-Baroque style, it uses Tasmanian sandstone and trachyte as a major feature in its façade, and was completed in 1913. Continuing the history of the building be tenanted by financial institutions, the building was for many years home to MTF, a vehicle finance company.^[38]
• The Façade of the old Woolworth's Building, 194 Princes St (Category II).^[39]

• The Bank of New Zealand Building, 205 Princes St (cnr. Princes and High Sts) (Category I). Designed in Venetian Renaissance styling, the 1882 BNZ building stands just two doors along from the National Bank building. The William Armson-designed building is notable for the richly carved exterior work by Louis Godfrey and moulded ceilings in its interior. The façade combines Doric, Ionic and Corinthian styles, and makes good use of Port Chalmers bluestone and Oamaru stone, a compact, cream-coloured limestone.^[40][41]
• The Southern Cross Hotel, 118 High St (cnr. High and Princes Sts) (Category I). One of Dunedin's principal hotels, the Southern Cross is housed in an impressive 1883 building designed by Louis Boldini. It occupies a prominent corner site in the heart of the Exchange. Formerly the Grand Hotel, the building has been extended considerably on several occasions in its history, and was considerably renovated in the 1980s, though most of its original features remain. The Southern Cross Hotel Building is home to Dunedin Casino.^[41]
• The Clarion Building, 282–292 Princes St (Category II). This 1878 William Mason building was originally a major drapery store in the heart of what was then Dunedin's retail district. The exterior is of Venetian Gothic style, though the interior has been largely redeveloped in recent years.^[41]
• The Chief Post Office Building, 283 Princes St (Category II). The Chief Post Office Building has not had an easy history. Designed by John Mair and the Governments Architects Office, construction was severely delayed by the Great Depression. Originally intended to be built in the early 1930s, it was not completed until 1937. A sturdy and impressive structure, possibly modelled on some of the government architecture in vogue in the United Kingdom during this era, the building held Dunedin's main post office branch until the late 1980s and continued in use as postal offices until 1997.^[42] The building remained empty for some time after this. Many plans were put forward for its use, including a hotel, a new site for the city's public library, and offices for either the Dunedin City Council or Otago Regional Council. In 2013, an extensive renovation of the lower few floors began, with Silver Fern Farms moving in on the ground and first floors as anchor tenant in February 2014. Later in the decade the interior of the building was further transformed, turning ito a 4-star hotel, the Distinction Dunedin Hotel.^[43]

• Wain's Hotel, 310 Princes St (Category I). Built in 1879 to a design by Mason & Wales, Wain's Hotel remains Dunedin's grandest hotel building, and reflects the opulence which followed the Central Otago Gold Rush of the 1860s. The interior has been substantially remodelled, but the exterior's Italianate Renaissance façade remains largely intact. This latter features much intricate work by mason George Munro, notably the figures found carved within the panelled spandrels and supporting the façade's oriel windows.^[22][44]
• The ANZ Bank Building, Dunedin, 319 Princes St (Category II). Robert Lawson's 1874 Union Bank of Australasia building is the only classical temple form structure in Dunedin. It is a partner to the architect's work on bank buildings in Oamaru, and features carved Corinthian columns by Godfrey. The building continued to be used as a bank until 1992, and now houses a night club.^[44]
• The H. E. Shacklock Building, 595–625 Princes St (Category II). The only listed manufacturing building in Princes Street, the Shacklock building covers a large site at the southern end of Princes Street opposite the Market Reserve.^[39]

The Cargill Monument at John Wickliffe Plaza is also listed (Category I), as are numerous buildings and structures which lie close to the intersection of side roads with Princes Street (e.g., the Category I Crown Roller Mills Building in Manor Place and the Category II Dowling Street Steps).^[39]

• Colombo Street, Christchurch
• History of Dunedin
• Lambton Quay, Wellington
• List of historic places in Dunedin
• Princes Street, Edinburgh
• Queen Street, Auckland