Map showing the location of William Street in the City of Londonderry 1905

This map shows the location of William Street in 1905. The location of the street had not changed since Robert Porter's city map of 1799 but by 1905 it was part of an extensive built up area reflecting the commercial, industrial and suburban development of this part of the city in the second half of the nineteenth century.  The street can be seen on the map running up from from the corner of Waterloo Street and Waterloo Place towards St. Eugene's Cathedral. The street runs reasonably parallel with Great James Street, Clarendon Street and Asylum Road, to the north and part of Fahan Street to the south of it. Click here to see some photographs of William Street, 2009.

Today, only the part of the street below Rossville Street and Little James's Street still has buildings which date from the later part of the nineteenth century. The upper part of the street has been been completely redeveloped and has new houses and a swimming pool between Rossville Street and Middle Road, which today is part of Francis Street. On the other side of the street is an extensive car park and new housing development beyond Little James's Street. Note that in some earlier maps, Lower Road is referred to as Middle Road and today, due to redevelopment, the line of Lower Road is somewhat different.

Because of the sheer size of the street I have presented much of the information in the sources on a side of street basis - left-hand side and right-hand side. The left-hand side runs from the corner of Waterloo Street towards Chamberlain Street, Rossville Street, Abbey Street and the present-day swimming pool. The right-hand side runs from the corner of Waterloo Place to what was once part of Prince Arthur Street [now a stand for taxis], towards Little James Street, Lower Road and Middle Road, now Francis Street.