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King's Cross, London

King's Cross is an inner-city district in London. It spreads over an area that includes parts of the London Borough of Camden and the London Borough of Islington, some 2.5 miles (4.8 km) to the north of Charing Cross.

The name King's Cross is said to date back to 1835, when King George IV built a sixty-foot structure crowned by a statue of himself. That structure is the "King's Cross", but it was highly unpopular with the locals. It only stood for ten years, and was demolished in 1845, by which time the name King's Cross has stuck.

Platform 7 at King's Cross Railway StationSt George the Martyr Southwark, London
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:King%27s_Cross_platform_7.jpg
Author: Mike Peel
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Not a particularly affluent neighbourhood, the King's Cross area was used as a rail transportation hub for London. It has the highest concentration of railway stations in the city, with the King's Cross Railway Station side-by-side to the St Pancras Railway Station, while the Euston Road Railway Station is not far away.

By the 1980's, the King's Cross area has slipped to become a decadent part of town, notorious for drug peddling and prostitution. This reputation kept rent low and "quality tenants" away.

Traffic on the streets at King's CrossTraffic on the streets at King's Cross
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:King%27s_Cross_traffic_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1468180.jpg
Author: Stephan McKay
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Revitalization of the King's Cross area began in 1992, with the opening of the London Canal Museum, and other projects such as the Gagosian Gallery and the present location for the British Library. The introduction of the high speed train link to St Pancras International Station was another catalyst to the development of King's Cross, which should see itself being reinvented and gentrified over the years.

How to reach King's Cross

Take the Hammersmith & City Line, Circle Line, Metropolitan Line, Northern Line, Piccadilly Line or Victoria Line to the King's Cross St Pancras Tube Station.

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Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.

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