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Rankins Lane

Located between Queen and Elizabeth streets and extending south from Little Bourke Street, Rankins Lane was named by 1895, possibly after early Melbourne builder John Rankin. In the early to mid twentieth century, the lane was mostly used for shoe-dying and jewellery manufacturing. By 1994, these factories and warehouses had been converted to residential apartments. Bohemian artist Mirka Mora, who migrated to Australia from France in 1951 and was instrumental in Melbourne's contemporary art scene, had an early studio in one of the warehouses on Rankins Lane.

Biheng Zhang

References
Bate, Weston, Essential but unplanned: The story of Melbourne's lanes, State Library of Victoria and the City of Melbourne, Melbourne, 1994. Details