A coffee palace was an often large and elaborate residential hotel that did not serve

alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...

, most of which were built in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in the late 19th century. A modest temperance hotel was opened in 1826 by activist

Gerrit Smith Gerrit Smith (March 6, 1797 – December 28, 1874), also spelled Gerritt Smith, was a leading American social reformer, abolitionist, businessman, public intellectual, and philanthropist. Married to Ann Carroll Fitzhugh, Smith was a candidat ...

in his hometown of

Peterboro, New York Peterboro, located approximately southeast of Syracuse, New York, is a historic hamlet and currently the administrative center for the Town of Smithfield, Madison County, New York, United States. Peterboro has a Post Office, ZIP code 13134 ...

, United States. It was not popular with locals, nor commercially successful. Temperance hotels were first established in the UK in the 1850s to provide an alcohol-free alternative to corner

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

s and residential hotels, and by the 1870s they could be found in every town and city, some quite large and elaborate. In the late 1870s the idea caught on in Australia, where the appellation "coffee palace" was almost universal, and dozens were built in the 1880s and early 1890s, including some of the largest hotels in the country. Due to the depression of the mid-1890s, some became ordinary hotels and others were converted to different uses. The name continued to be applied to smaller residential hotels and guest houses in the early 20th century, until the trend died out. As large old hotels that may never have been a financial success, many, including most of the largest, were eventually demolished.

History

In the 17th and 18th centuries, "

coffee houses A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-ca ...

", which were like taverns, but sold the new beverage of coffee rather than alcohol, became popular in the United Kingdom, but died out by the late 18th century. Beginning in the early 19th century in the United States, the

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...

campaigned against the moral, economical and medical effects of overindulgence in alcoholic beverages, a campaign which soon evolved into the promotion of total abstinence. By the early 1830s the

began in earnest in the United Kingdom, starting in the north, and soon spread all over the country. The movement built or converted its own premises for meetings, entertainment, food and accommodations, with the first "temperance hotel" opening in 1833 in Preston, with 22 across the north and the Midlands by 1835 (though not all offered accommodation). Intended as an alternative to the corner pub, they were often about the same size, and just about every town of any size soon had at least one. As well as "temperance hotel", many other names were used such as temperance bar, coffee tavern, coffee rooms, temperance tavern, or just a named hotel that was advertised as a temperance venue. In the 1870s, with an established market, larger and more elaborate temperance hotels began to be built, a trend which continued into the 1880s, and some of these were called a "coffee palace". Examples included the 1872 French Renaissance style Trevelyan Temperance Hotel, Boar Lane, Leeds, and the Cobden Coffee Palace, Corporation Street, Birmingham, built in 1883 in a striking Gothic Revival style (demolished). The

Temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...

in Australia was established shortly after its beginnings in the UK, for instance, the temperance society in Melbourne was formed in 1837. This was followed by the Melbourne Total Abstinence Society in 1842, the Independent Order of Rechabites in 1847, and in 1885 the Women's Christian Temperance Union. Tankard's Temperance Hotel, an alcohol-free residential hotel, was established in the 1850s, in the western end of the city. In Australia, the same imperative for their construction applied as in the UK, as expressed at a meeting at the Melbourne Temperance Hall in October 1878, to build a place "... as attractive as possible for the working man, hichshould combine every facility for harmless amusement and intellectual enjoyment, with the advantages of a large hotel, the only difference being that coffee should be vended instead of intoxicating liquors". A major point of difference to the UK examples however was that they were built "on a business basis" rather than as a subsidised or not for profit venture. The first "coffee house" companies were founded soon after that meeting in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, and the first to be built, the Collingwood Coffee Palace, opened in Smith Street, Fitzroy in 1879, closely followed by the gladly ornate Melbourne Coffee Palace in the city in 1881. Melbourne_coffee_palace_1881

Their promotion occurred at a time of great economic growth in Australia, which perhaps combined with the "moral superiority" behind them, led to their rapid popularity and the construction of many often quite large and elaborate "temperance hotels" in the following decade, nearly always called Coffee Palaces. The greatest growth occurred in Melbourne, then in the throes of a "land boom", with land rising steeply in value and large buildings built to capitalise on that value. This coincided with the popularity of what is now called High Victorian architecture, lavish buildings with richly ornamented facades and interiors, usually Renaissance Revival, perhaps combined with Second Empire elements. The coffee palaces were invariably built in this elaborate High Victorian style, or in the more form of typical large pub/hotels, with extensive cast-iron verandahs. The Scots Presbyterian James Munro, politician and leading Land Boomer, was a champion of the temperance movement in Victoria; in 1886 he formed a company that purchased an already prominent hotel, the Grand on Spring Street built three years previously, and converted it into a temperance hotel, the Grand Coffee Palace, reputedly burning the liquor licence. The

Federal Coffee Palace The Federal Hotel and Coffee Palace was a large elaborate Second Empire style temperance hotel in the city centre of Melbourne, Victoria, built in 1888 at the height of Melbourne's Boom era, and controversially demolished in 1973. Located on C ...

, built in 1888 on the corner of Collins and King Street in the western end of Melbourne's CBD was the largest hotel built in Australia, and the Grand Coffee Palace at the other end of the city was the second largest in Melbourne, while the Queens Coffee Palace in Carlton was possibly the third (though it appears to never have opened as a hotel, instead becoming residential apartments). In Sydney the Grand Central Coffee Palace built in 1889 was almost as big the contemporary Metropole and

Australia Hotel The Australia Hotel was a hotel on Castlereagh Street, Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. From its opening in 1891 until its closure on 30 June 1971 and subsequent demolition, the hotel was considered "the best-known hotel in Australia", "the ...

s, but they were the better known and patronised. The boom lasted a little more than a decade, ending with the banking crisis of 1893, and a severe economic depression. The coffee palaces lost custom to the licensed hotels they were sometimes built to compete with, while others were built for patrons that never came, and so struggled to survive. Some were converted into guest houses or private hotels (or in one case a school), while others applied for liquor licences and dropped the "coffee palace" title. The "coffee palace" title was however taken up in the early 20th century for usually small residential hotels / guest houses, often in resort or country towns, to indicate they were not licensed, but they fell short of the grandeur the name implied (such as the 1901 Yarram Coffee Palace, about the size of a corner pub). The larger examples were essentially large Victorian-era hotels with numerous small rooms, and those that had not continued as hotels often became cheap boarding houses by the mid 20th century, especially in the Melbourne suburbs, and a large number were demolished from the 1950s-1970s. Some significant examples still survive, though very few still operate as hotels. The most famous survivor is the Hotel Windsor, the renamed Grand Coffee Palace that James Munro had established, which re-gained its liquor licence in 1897, and changed name in 1920, and is Australia's major surviving grand 19th century hotel.

Coffee palaces

Australia

Victoria

Melbourne

Collingwood Coffee Palace Collingwood, meaning "wood of disputed ownership", may refer to: Educational institutions * Collingwood College, Victoria, an Australian state Prep to Year 12 school * Collingwood College, Durham, college of Durham University, England * Collingw ...

(originally proposed as Fitzroy Coffee Palace and Workers Club), 232 Smith Street, (named Collingwood despite actually being on the Fitzroy side of the street), 1879. In the early 20th century floors added and subsumed into a department store, of which only the facade remains propped atop a supermarket. * Prahran Coffee Palace, Chapel Street, , 1880 (demolished?) * Victoria Coffee Palace, Collins Street adjacent to the Town Hall, 1880 (occupying a building that had opened as the Victoria Club in 1877). The Collins Street frontage was demolished when the town hall was extended in the 1920s, but the Little Collins Street part, built 1880s and 1920s, survives as the Victoria Hotel * Coffee Tavern No 2, 516-518 Flinders Street, 1880. Closed 1897, became a warehouse then offices, then a licensed brothel in 1990. * Melbourne Coffee Palace, Bourke Street, 1881, demolished c1970. * St Kilda Coffee Palace, Grey Street, St Kilda, 1883 - recently Coffee Palace Backpackers, and now the Selina Hotel (2021). * Grand Coffee Palace, Spring Street, first stage built as a hotel in 1884, became a Coffee Palace in 1886, extended 1888, licence reinstated 1897, renamed the Hotel Windsor) in 1920s. * Oriental Coffee Palace, later Gladstone Hotel, Victoria Street, 1888 * Albert Park Coffee Palace, later The Biltmore, , 1887. * Mentone Coffee Palace, , 1887. Closed 1904, and purchased to become the nucleus of

Kilbreda College , motto_translation = Strength and Kindliness , established = , type = Independent secondary day school , denomination = Roman Catholic , religious_affiliation = Brigidine Sisters , gende ...

. * South Yarra Coffee Palace, cnr Toorak Road and Claremont Street, 1887 now the Hotel Claremont Guesthouse. *

, Corner of Collins and King Streets,

, 1888, demolished 1972. * Queen's Coffee Palace, 1 Rathdowne Street, , 1888 (but never opened as a hotel), demolished c1970 * West Melbourne Coffee Palace, Victoria Street, probably on the corner of Roden Street, , c1888 demolished. * Sandringham Coffee Palace, "adjoining railway station", 1889, known by 1894 as Sandringham House, , demolished. (possibly the site of current Sandringham Hotel). * Hawthorn Coffee Palace, Burwood Road near Glenferrie Road, c1890 demolished. * McCaughans Coffee Palace, Spencer Street, Melbourne, 1891, now Great Southern Hotel * Newport Coffee Palace, 24 Newcastle Street, Newport, 1891 Became a guest house in the 1920s, converted to apartments in the later 20th century. * Grand Coffee Palace, Mornington, 1889. Converted to Grand Hotel 1892. File:The Hotel Windsor, Melbourne, Australia.jpg, Hotel Windsor (formerly the Grand Coffee Palace) File:St kilda coffee palace.jpg, St Kilda Coffee Palace – now backpackers hostel File:Kilbredafrontview.JPG, Mentone Coffee Palace – now Kilbreda Girls' School File:Collingwood coffee palace in 1879.jpg, Collingwood Coffee Palace File:Melbourne coffee palace in 1882.jpg, Melbourne Coffee Palace File:Hawthorn coffee palace in 1887.jpg, Hawthorn Coffee Palace File:QueensCoffeePalace.jpg, Queens Coffee Palace File:Biltmore albert park.jpg, Albert Park Coffee Palace

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...

* Andrew's Coffee Palace, Armstrong Street * Reid's Coffee Palace, (1886 and 1888), verandah late 1890s now Reid's Guest House. File:Ballarat Reid's Coffee Palace 001.JPG, Reid's Coffee Palace, Ballarat

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, makin ...

* Sandhurst Coffee Palace (demolished) * Central Coffee Palace (demolished) File:Sandhurst coffee palace.jpg, Sandhurst Coffee Palace in 1890

Bellarine Peninsula

* Barwon Heads Coffee Palace, facing mouth of Barwon River, 1889, renamed Mt Colite Hotel, destroyed by fire 1928, site now Barwon Heads Hotel * Ocean Grove Coffee Palace, later Green Gables and The Chalet, 1888, demolished late 1960s * Grand Hotel, 1881, now Vue Grand, sometimes described as a coffee palace. * Sea View Coffee Palace, cnr Hesse and Stokes Streets, described as a Coffee Palace from 1899, now Sea View Guest House. * Federal Coffee Palace, Hesse Street, Queenscliff, location and date uncertain

Other

* Castlemaine Coffee Palace, later Bailie's Coffee Palace, then Midland Private Hotel, 2 Templeton Street, , c1890 * Federal Coffee Palace, Yarram, 1901. * Geelong Coffee Palace, originally Macks Hotel, Brougham Terrace (formerly Corio Terrace), refurbished and reopened as a Coffee Palace in 1888, name returned to Mack's Hotel (still without a licence) in 1891, demolished * Grand Coffee Palace, , 1889, demolished 1970s. * Kyneton Coffee Palace, 104-114 Millison Street, Kyneton, 1881. Last mentions in 1907, demolished. * Marnoo Coffee Palace, . * Mildura Coffee Palace, , 1891, 1919 became the Grand Hotel, with licence. * Murtoa Coffee Palace, Murtoa * Ozone Coffee Palace, , 1889, refurbished in 1920 and reopened as Hotel Mansions, full licence granted in 1923, destroyed by fire 1929. * Victoria Coffee Palace, Nolan Street, * Wimmera Coffee Palace, Horsham, 1918 , demolished.

Tasmania

* Imperial (Hobart) Coffee Palace,

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. Built in two sections, firstly in the 1880s then extended in 1910. Cast iron verandah, balcony and mansard roof were removed during the 1950s and the 1910 extension was demolished in the 1960s. * Tasmanian Coffee Palace, Hobart, Tasmania, 89 Macquarie St (established in Ingle Hall which was built c1814). Also known as Norman's Coffee Palace, the Orient, and Anderson's, late 19th century. Now home to the Mercury Print Museum. * Federal (Sutton's) Coffee Palace (later Metropole), 67 Brisbane Street,

Launceston, Tasmania Launceston () or () is a city in the north of Tasmania, Australia, at the confluence of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River (kanamaluka). As of 2021, Launceston has a population of 87,645. Material was copied ...

. Demolished 1976. * Shield's Temperance Hotel (Shield's Coffee Palace), 77 Esplanade, Launceston, Tasmania. Ironically established in the former Burten Brewery in 1859, the building was eventually reduced in size as the Monds Flour Mills expanded in the early 20th century with the building finally being demolished in the 1950s. * Commonwealth Coffee Palace, 23-29 Tamar Street, Launceston, Tasmania (demolished 1960s) File:Launceston coffee palace brisbane street.jpg, Launceston Coffee Palace, Brisbane Street File:Imperial coffee palace hobart.JPG, The Imperial, Hobart

South Australia

* Grand Coffee Palace,

Hindley Street Hindley Street is located in the north-west quarter of the centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It runs between King William Street and West Terrace. The street was named after Charles Hindley, a British parliamentarian and soc ...

, (1891). Rebuilt 1907, now Plaza Hotel. * Grayson's Coffee Palace, Adelaide city centre (1887). Demolished 1918, replaced by what is now the Grosvenor Hotel. *

Grant's Coffee Palace Hindley Street is located in the north-west quarter of the centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It runs between King William Street and West Terrace. The street was named after Charles Hindley, a British parliamentarian and soc ...

, 110 Hindley Street, Adelaide, (1908). Built 1903 as Austral Stores, becoming Grant's Coffee Palace in 1908, then West's Coffee Palace in 1919. The building remains to this day. * Port Pioneer Coffee Palace, Commercial Road,

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...

. (1879) * Kieselbach Coffee Palace,

Mt. Gambier Mount Gambier is the second most populated city in South Australia, with an estimated urban population of 33,233 . The city is located on the slopes of Mount Gambier (volcano), Mount Gambier, a volcano in the south east of the state, about sou ...

(1884). Later the Palace Hotel. * Semaphore Coffee Palace, 80 the Esplanade,

Semaphore Semaphore (; ) is the use of an apparatus to create a visual signal transmitted over distance. A semaphore can be performed with devices including: fire, lights, flags, sunlight, and moving arms. Semaphores can be used for telegraphy when arra ...

(c1910). Later Wondergraph Café now Evancourt Private Hotel.

New South Wales

Sydney

* Johnsons Temperance Coffee Palace, York Street, Sydney. (1879) *Sydney Coffee Palace Hotel / Sydney Coffee Palace No 1, 393-7 George Street,

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

(1880, a conversion of an earlier 4 storey warehouse). Rebuilt 1913–1914. Part demolished, one bay remains, and Temperance Lane marks its location. * Sydney Coffee Palace No. 2, also known as Cripp's, George Street near Circular Quay (1880). Destroyed by fire 1884. * Sydney Coffee Palace, Woolloomooloo (1880) By 1922 apartments, then Sydney Eye Hospital, now backpackers. * Grand Central Coffee Palace (1889), Clarence Street, Sydney, licensed and renamed Hotel Arcadia, demolished 1929 * Post Office Palace, from 1916 Ellis's Coffee Palace, 50 King Street, Sydney, (1893). Licensed 1922 as York Hotel, now offices. * Bee Hive Coffee Palace, Sydney * Crescent Coffee Palace, * Great Western Coffee Palace, Hay & Sussex Street, Haymarket (1914) Licensed 1916, now offices * Town Hall Coffee Palace, Brickfield Hill, Sydney * Oxford Coffee Palace, Riley Street, East Sydney * Davies Coffee Palace, (1912, demolished 1955)

Country NSW

* Miss McGuren's Coffee Palace,

Coffs Harbour Coffs Harbour is a city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. It is one of the largest urban centres on the North Coast, with a population of 78,759 as per 2021 census. The Gumbaynggirr ...

* Dorrigo Coffee Palace, Hickory St, (burnt down 1926 and again in 1930) * Metropolitan Coffee Palace, (1893) * Katoomba Coffee Palace * Central Coffee Palace, Main-street, Murwillumbah * Federal Coffee Palace, Parkes

Queensland

People's Palace, Brisbane The People's Palace is a heritage-listed building and a former temperance hotel in the Brisbane CBD, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is located at 308 Edward Street on the southern corner with Ann Street, diagonally opposite to ...

(built 1910–11, in 2015 operating as a backpackers' hotel) *

Canberra Hotel, Brisbane The Canberra Hotel was a temperance hotel on the western corner of Ann and Edward Streets, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Temperance Hall The site had long been associated with the temperance movement, having formerly been occupied by the ...

(built 1929, sold 1985 and later demolished) * Royal George, (built 1911, licensed in 1912 and destroyed by fire on 15 February 1961) * Hill's Coffee Palace,

Western Australia

* Horseshoe Coffee Palace, Perth * Burnett's Coffee Palace and Temperance Hotel (Perth's first "Coffee Palace", although the building, constructed c1834, was previously the (licensed) Devonshire Arms, prior to that The Mason's Arms), corner Hay and Barrack Streets, diagonally opposite Town Hall, Perth * Ellis's Grand Central Coffee Palace (still standing as the Grand Central Hotel), Wellington St, Perth * Continental Coffee Palace (Wellington St, Perth * Rechabite Coffee Palace, Wellington St, Perth (Opposite Central Railway Station) *Grand Central Coffee Palace, Wellington Street, Perth 1903. * Royal Coffee Palace, 165-167 Murray St, Perth * Musson's (Sydney) Coffee Palace (Hotel), Murray St, Perth * Cornwall Coffee Palace (previously the Yankee Coffee Palace), 239 Murray St (between William and Barrack Sts), Perth * Prince of Wales Coffee Palace, Murray St, Perth * (Shafto's) Victoria Coffee Palace, Wellington St, Perth * Wilson's Coffee Palace, King St, Perth * Paris Coffee Palace, corner of James and Pier Sts, Northbridge * Worsleys Coffee Palace, Katanning, Perth * Metropolitan Coffee Palace, Stirling St, Northbridge * Britannia Coffee Palace, 323 William St, Northbridge * Perth Coffee Palace, William St, Northbridge * 1904 Wise Directory has 20 coffee palaces listed in Perth and other locations in WA

United Kingdom

Ossington Coffee Palace (geograph 3811876)

* Douglas Coffee Palace,

Douglas, Isle of Man Douglas ( gv, Doolish, ) is the capital and largest town of the Isle of Man, with a population of 26,677 (2021). It is located at the mouth of the River Douglas, and on a sweeping bay of . The River Douglas forms part of the town's harbour ...

, c1870 (demolished 1930) * Dublin Coffee Palace, Townsend Street,

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

' 1875 (dem) *

Ossington Coffee Tavern, Newark on Trent The Ossington Coffee Tavern is a Grade II* listed building in Newark on Trent, Nottinghamshire. History The foundation stone was laid on 10 November 1881 when Harold Peto representing his firm of architects placed a sealed bottle within a stone co ...

, 1882 *The Coffee Palace, Townsend Street, Dublin, 1875 *Coffee Palace & Workman's Hall, Kensal Green, London, 1880 *Coffee Tavern, St David's Bridge, Cranbrook, Kent, 1880, (Tiffins Restaurant in 2018) * Cobden Coffee House, Corporation Street,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, 1883 (dem) *Coffee Tavern, Farncombe, Surrey, 1887 (Sweetapple House in 2018). *Coffee Palace, Upper Tooting Road, London.Postcard printed by Albert Flint, Photographer and Publisher, 68 Church Street, Camberwell, London

Bibliography

* Grand Hotels: Reality and Illusion. Elaine Denby. Reaktion Books, 2002

References

External links

Trove search for Coffee palaces
{{Coffee Hotels in Australia Coffee culture Temperance movement Coffeehouses and cafés in Australia Coffee in Australia