Mrs Waterhouse came to Canberra ''in her mother's pouch''. She was born in 1923, but it wasn't until 1927, when the family home (now known as Calthorpes' House) was finished, that the 89-year-old moved to Manuka. She's been in the area ever since.

''I like it now. We couldn't have a cup of coffee when I came as a child, there was nothing very much here. You could run down to the village as we called it, but the attraction was the Capital Theatre,'' Mrs Waterhouse said.

''You can buy a beautiful dress here, beautiful clothes. We had to use catalogues and mail before. It's a very friendly community area and very busy.''

Mrs Waterhouse was one of thousands who joined the day-long Manuka Celebrates festivities to toast Canberra's 100th birthday, with the precinct's own history and character.

At one end of the closed street there were historic photo displays and exhibitions while the other had vintage vehicle displays including Matilda, Canberra's oldest bus, and Wilkie's Pie Cart, Canberra's first mobile food van, a 1939 Chevy.

Palmerston Lane was also closed and crowds gathered to see live performances. Poncho Circus had the gathered onlookers gasping as they performed their signature trick, ''toss the girl''.

Performer Jake Silvestro, 22, said there was no real danger they would let the girl slip out of their grasp.

''We formed at the start of 2012 and we've all had quite a lot of experience and time working with the circus,'' Mr Silvestro said.

''We've had a really good time, the audiences were really warm.''