Grand Hotel is a heritage-listed
hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...
at 39 Central Street,
Mount Morgan,
Rockhampton Region
The Rockhampton Region is a local government area (LGA) in Central Queensland, Australia, located on the Tropic of Capricorn about north of Brisbane. Rockhampton is the region's major city; the region also includes the Fitzroy River, Mount Ar ...
,
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
, Australia. It was built . It was added to the
Queensland Heritage Register
The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. As a ...
on 21 October 1992.
History
The Grand Hotel is a two-storey brick hotel building and was erected on the corner of Morgan and Central Streets, Mount Morgan.
[
The township of Mount Morgan grew with the establishment of what was to become the richest gold mine in the world. Although small mining claims occurred before 1882, the three Morgan Brothers pegged claims which encompassed most of the mountain top in that year. In July they formed a partnership with three ]Rockhampton
Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of the ...
businessmen before selling out to them in 1886 when the Mount Morgan Gold Mining Company Limited
Mount Morgan Mine was a copper, gold and silver mine in Queensland, Australia. Mining began at Mount Morgan in 1882 and continued until 1981.
Over its lifespan, the mine yielded approximately of gold, of silver and of copper. The mine was o ...
was formed. By the following year even the Queensland Post Office Directory The Queensland Post Office Directory was a series of publications listing people and businesses in Queensland, Australia.
History
These publications were produced from 1868 to 1949 on an annual basis to enable people in Queensland to be contacted ...
noted that "the importance of this place as a goldfield can scarcely be exaggerated." This led to the rapid development of a township to provide an infrastructure for the increasing population. This development included the construction of a number of hotels, of which the Grand Hotel was one of the most elaborate.[
The land on which the Grand Hotel was to be constructed was originally part of the huge portion 247 of , acquired in 1883 by members of the ]Mount Morgan Mine
Mount Morgan Mine was a copper, gold and silver mine in Queensland, Australia. Mining began at Mount Morgan in 1882 and continued until 1981.
Over its lifespan, the mine yielded approximately of gold, of silver and of copper. The mine was o ...
syndicate. It was subdivided in 1895 and leased to a number of people who probably had constructed dwellings and commercial buildings on it. In September 1900 a lease on sub 1 of section 6 at the corner of Morgan and Central Streets was acquired by Richard Daniel Shaw. Shaw was an auctioneer and real estate agent although he had held the license on the Leichhardt Hotel in Mount Morgan in 1897. He took out a mortgage for on his interest in November 1900 and also on subs 14-17 in the same block in March 1901.[
There was a surge of building in Mount Morgan around the turn of the century and a number of new hotels were built. The Grand Hotel was probably constructed for Shaw and in late 1900 or early 1901 it was being run by Ernest Bale, a hotelier from Rockhampton. Shaw may have had financial problems, because the ]Queensland National Bank
The Queensland National Bank is a former bank in Queensland, Australia.
History
In 1872, the bank was established in Brisbane.
In December 1914, the bank had its head office in Brisbane with branches throughout Queensland at Allora, Aramac, A ...
took out a caveat on the mortgage in 1901 and by July the Grand Hotel was being advertised in the Rockhampton Morning Bulletin
''The Morning Bulletin'' is an online newspaper servicing the city of Rockhampton and the surrounding areas of Central Queensland, Australia.
From 1861 to 2020, ''The Morning Bulletin'' was published as a print edition, before then becoming an ...
under the proprietorship of W.D. Eaton. It was claimed to feature "every convenience of a First Class Hotel for families, visitors, tourists and commercial Gentlemen". The coffee and dining rooms were lighted by gas, a service newly available in Mount Morgan, and a telephone line was installed. This was no doubt of value to the commercial travellers who used the sample rooms, as was its central position with regard to the railway station, post office, court house and central business district. A two-storey building across the lane from the hotel on Central Street was constructed as a guest house to take the overflow of guests from the Grand, probably its long term boarders. Eaton did not retain his interest in the hotel, however, and in 1902 it was taken over by Joseph Moulds, an experienced local publican who had previously run the Mountain View Hotel, his lease being formalised in October 1903.[
In 1906 the property was formally acquired by the Queensland National Bank as Shaw was declared insolvent in 1904. Moulds died in 1907 and in early 1908 the property, now described as subdivision 1 on section 6 of resubdivision 11 of subdivision B, and measuring about , was acquired by Lucy Moulds, his widow. The property was purchased in 1917 by Francis Chardon, a butcher, who presumably purchased it as an investment. May Maykin purchased the license from 1920 to 1922.In 1923 a major fire occurred in the block along Morgan Street and the School of Arts was destroyed, probably also removing the series of small shops shown abutting the Grand Hotel in a 1913 photograph. In 1929 the hotel passed to James Hayes, a hotelier. Hayes ran the hotel until his death in an aircraft accident in 1937,] but Mrs Hayes and then Charlotte Hayes continued to operate it. The Hayes family acquired the block next to the hotel and in 1949 this and the original subdivision 1 were sold to Richard and Violet McLean, who had been at the Grand since about 1945. In 1989 the hotel passed to Frank (Tapper) and Rose Welsh.[
Changes occurring to the hotel over time have been relatively minor and include the painting of the bricks, which were originally a rich ochre red with contrasting cement render detail. The verandah facing Morgan Street on the upper level has been built in and some alterations to ground floor walls and the furnishing and decoration of the bars has occurred.][
The bat wing doors that were originally on the corner entrance of the hotel survive as exhibits in the local museum.][
]
Description
The Grand Hotel is a substantial two storey hotel prominently sited at the intersection of Mount Morgan's 2 principal streets. The hotel is constructed of brick and is L-shaped, addressing both street frontages, although the Central Street frontage is longer. The end walls, which face a laneway on Central Street and a vacant block on Morgan Street, are blank. The hipped roof
A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...
of the building is concealed by a panelled parapet
A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...
and its most striking feature is a corner bay with an octagonal corner projection surmounted by a timber framed tower with onion dome
An onion dome is a dome whose shape resembles an onion. Such domes are often larger in diameter than the tholobate upon which they sit, and their height usually exceeds their width. These bulbous structures taper smoothly to a point.
It is a ty ...
roof of flat sheet metal. The base of the tower houses one of the principal entrances to the hotel. A wide awning
An awning or overhang is a secondary covering attached to the exterior wall of a building. It is typically composed of canvas woven of acrylic, cotton or polyester yarn, or vinyl laminated to polyester fabric that is stretched tightly over a lig ...
clad with corrugated iron
Corrugated galvanised iron or steel, colloquially corrugated iron (near universal), wriggly tin (taken from UK military slang), pailing (in Caribbean English), corrugated sheet metal (in North America) and occasionally abbreviated CGI is a bu ...
and supported on posts runs along both street frontages and is truncated at the corner and steps up along Morgan Street in line with the street level.[
On the upper level of the hotel, ]veranda
A veranda or verandah is a roofed, open-air gallery or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front and sides of the structure.
Although the form ''veran ...
hs run between the central tower and a projecting room and the end of the building. That facing Central Street has timber posts and timber balustrading
A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its cons ...
. Centrally located on the verandah is a pediment
Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape.
Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds.
A pedimen ...
ed gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...
d projection. A similar verandah runs along this guest bedroom wing at the rear of the building. The verandah facing Morgan Street has been built in. The tower has a shaded triple window on the upper level.[
Internally the main bar occupies the ground floor corner space and has plastered walls, a ]pressed metal ceiling
A tin ceiling is an architectural element, consisting of a ceiling finished with plates of tin with designs pressed into them, that was very popular in Victorian buildings in North America in the late 19th and early 20th century. They were also ...
and a modern free standing bar. There is a second bar on a higher level corresponding to the slope of Morgan Street. The guest's entrance is from Central Street where double doors with coloured transom lights open into a wide lobby area which also has rendered walls and a pressed metal ceiling. A turned timber staircase is at the end of the hall and leads to the upper storey. To the right of this entrance is a large room created from several smaller ones and the service rooms connected with running the hotel. There are toilets and a detached wash house behind. On the upper floor are small bedrooms running back to back along the Central Street axis. Those facing the street open onto a verandah. The upper floor rooms on the Morgan Street axis comprise an apartment for the publican.[
The two storey timber house, which was at one time used as an extension of the hotel's accommodation, survives largely intact although the verandahs have been built in.][
]
Heritage listing
The Grand Hotel in Mount Morgan was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register
The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. As a ...
on 21 October 1992 having satisfied the following criteria.[
The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history.
Mining has played an important role in the development of Queensland and Mt Morgan was an extraordinarily rich mine that operated for over a hundred years, making a major contribution to the economy of the state and the development of the region. As good quality hotel from an important period in the development of the township, the Grand Hotel demonstrates the rapid growth and importance of the field at the beginning of the twentieth century.][
The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places.
The Grand Hotel is important as a good example of a substantial regional hotel, designed for a prominent site and employing strong architectural features, including a corner tower and well detailed verandahs to attract custom.][
The place is important because of its aesthetic significance.
Because the Grand Hotel is a local landmark, being prominently sited on the major street intersection in the town, and is a well composed building of architectural merit it makes an important contribution to the streetscape and character of the town.][
]
References
Attribution
External links
* {{official website, http://grandhotelmtmorgan.com.au/
Queensland Heritage Register
Mount Morgan, Queensland
Hotels in Queensland
Articles incorporating text from the Queensland Heritage Register
Buildings and structures in Central Queensland