A small side-street of the same name branches off the east side of Milligan Street between Murray and Wellington Streets, and forms a second intersection with Wellington Street.[3]
Milligan Street appears in maps of Perth from as early as 1838, running from what is now Spring Street to Murray.[4][5] It was named after Dr William Lane Milligan, the original owner of the land on the southern end of Milligan Street, south of St Georges Terrace.[6][7]
In 1863 the section of Milligan Street south of St Georges Terrace was rezoned and transferred to Matthew Hale, the Anglican Bishop of Perth.[6][8][9] By 1894 Milligan Street extended north to Wellington Street.[10]
The small side-street between Murray and Wellington Streets was originally part of a separate (although intersecting) thoroughfare named Melbourne Street that ran north-east from the corner of Milligan and Murray Streets, past Wellington and Roe Streets, and (in 1845) to James Street.[5][11]
In 1923 Melbourne Road[a] was renamed to Milligan Street[12] and the two were considered a single road when the Perth City Council adopted a committee recommendation:
That the name of Melbourne-road be altered to Milligan-street, and that the present Milligan-street and the present Melbourne-road be then regarded as one thoroughfare.[13]
However the name Melbourne Road continued to be used at least until the 1940s.[14][15]
In December 2017 the City of Perth Council agreed to a request from Landgate[16][17] and the portion of Milligan Street between Roe and James Streets was renamed back to Melbourne Street.
^Most early maps show Melbourne Street,[4][5][10][11] but Government Gazettes and newspaper articles typically refer to Melbourne Road.[12][13][14][15]
^A Perth City Link newsletter[19] says that the level crossing was closed in the 1930s, but maps from 1918[20] and 1925[21] show the road as being closed.