Princes Street was part of the original Edinburgh New Town designed by James Craig in 1767 and was originally intended to be a residential street.
Named after the sons of King George III, it wasn’t the desirable area it is today – the proximity of the recently-drained Nor’ Loch, that took up much of the area where Princes Street Gardens is today, meant it was a initially a fairly smelly and dirty part of town.
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It wasn’t until Victorian times that shops, hotels and businesses started to move in and some of the most recognisable landmarks were added, including the Debenhams building that was built in 1884 as a Conservative Club and the former Jenners department store, built in 1895.
By the time of the 1950s and 1960s it was very much the place to be seen – and to shop – and was also used for an array of colourful marches and processions.
Here are 31 pictures to take you back to those days.
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5. Hot toy
Edinburgh Dispatch reporter John Gibson at a bus stop on Princes Street with the hottest toy of the year - a gonk. | National World
6. VIP transport
Members of the cast of 'The Doctor and the Devils' at the Assembly Hall travel along Princes Street in a handsome Gilby coach-and-four horse drawn carriage during the Edinburgh Festival in August 1962. | National World
7. That's life
The Life Association of Scotland building on Princes Street in October 1966. | National World
8. Checking in
A view of the North British Hotel (now the Balmoral Hotel) taken from Princes Street in May 1955. | National World