North Adelaide is the predominately residential suburb north of the River Torrens but within the Adelaide Parklands.
Surveyor-General Colonel William Light of the colony of South Australia completed the survey for the capital city of Adelaide by 10 March 1837. The survey included 1042 acres (4.2 km²), including 342 acres (1.4 km²) north of the River Torrens. This surveyed land north of the river became North Adelaide.
North Adelaide consists of 3 grids of varying dimension to suit the geography. North Adelaide is surrounded by parklands, with public gardens between the grids. The North Adelaide Parklands (the Adelaide Parklands north of the River Torrens) contain gardens, many sports fields (including the Adelaide Oval), a golf course, horse agistment paddocks and some areas sympathetic with the native environment.
The largest grid is situated on a hill, and is sometimes referred to as Upper North Adelaide. It has Wellington Square at its centre, and O'Connell street as its main commercial street. O'Connell street is the continuation of King William Road, and links the main street of Adelaide City with Main North Road. A tram used to run up O'Connell Street; there are plans to reinstall a tram service. O'Connell Street has many cafes, restaurants, burger bars, shops and 4 pubs. Tynte Street is another commercial street in the largest grid running between Wellington Square and the east parklands. It contains a primary school, a public library, a civic hall, a post office and a pub.
The smallest grid contains the Women's and Children's Hospital, the Memorial Hospital, St Peter's Cathedral, St Mark's College, the Cathedral hotel (popular with cricket fans due its proximity to the Adelaide Oval), and the Queen's Head hotel (the oldest Adelaide pub, renovated in 2003).
The remaining grid is termed Lower North Adelaide. It is situated nearest the Torrens floodplain. It contains Brougham Place Uniting Church, St Ann's College, and 3 pubs. Melbourne Street, with cafes, restaurants, galleries, shops and a pub is its commercial street.
North Adelaide pubs are heritage listed. There are 11 in total: 6 in Upper North Adelaide, 3 in Lower North Adelaide, and 2 in the Cathedral grid. 4 of the Upper North Adelaide pubs are on O'Connell street: the Caledonian, the Royal Oak, the Oxford and the Archer. The Daniel O'Connell (formerly the North Adelaide hotel) is on Tynte Street, and the Wellington hotel is on Wellington square. The Dover Castle is heritage listed but has been turned into apartments (to the disappointment of former Lincoln College students for whom it was a social hub). Lower North Adelaide contains the Kentish Arms hotel, the Old Lion hotel (also a brewery until recently) and the British hotel (Adelaide's second oldest pub).
Many residential colleges affiliated with the University of Adelaide are situated in North Adelaide. St Mark's College (Anglican), Aquinas (Catholic), Kathleen Lumley (Postgraduate), St Ann's College, Lincoln College and a Lutheran seminary.
Transport
North Adelaide Hill is well served by road, although in peak hour these roads, particularly O'Connell Street and Melbourne Street are quite congested.
North Adelaide railway station is located on the Gawler Line of the Adelaide rail network. The railway station is however on the western edge of North Adelaide with infrequent services and is little used.
There are several Adelaide Metro bus routes that that service the area on their way through to other suburbs. The 182 and 222 follow routes along O'Connell Street, the 253 along Ward Street and Hill Street, the 233/235 along Pennington Terrace and Jeffcot Street and the 204/206/209 along Melbourne Street.
There is provision for bicycles along LeFevere Terrace/Frome Road and Montifiore Road and many of the streets have little traffic and are bicycle friendly.