Rawlins Cross, St. John's

Rawlins Cross

Rawlins Cross, formed by the intersection of Prescott Street, Monkstown and Military Roads, is a well known St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador landmark. Military Road, built in 1773, was one of the first roads in this area that joined Fort William with Fort Townsend. Monkstown Road was built in the early 19th century and Prescott Street around 1840. The area where all three came together became to be known as Rawlins Cross, after grocer Patrick Rawlins.

Rawlins Cross has been home to many businesses that lasted for many years; the most noteworthy was O'Mara-Martin Drugs, established in 1892. In 1895 W.J. Murphy's grocery established a presence there. It is the site of the first traffic light for the city; it was manually operated by a police constable. A commemorative plaque for the St. John's Electric Light Company is located at Rawlins Cross, although the business was established on nearby Flavin Street in 1885.

One distinct feature in this area is the vast differences in the styles of houses on either side of the intersection, On one side you have large mansions now selling for upwards of one million dollars, and on the other side of the intersection as you move closer to downtown and the harbour you have small row houses. This is because back in the late 19th century and 20th century these houses belonged to merchants and fishermen, the merchants lived in the large mansions while the fishermen who were kept poor by the merchants lived in the small row houses.

A popular Newfoundland Irish band, Rawlins Cross, has taken its name from this St. John's landmark.