Shepparton Hotel
Shepparton Hotels History:
This is the list of the Shepparton Hotels and their order of being built: 1853 - Parson's Inn (later known as Prince of Wales Inn), 1873 - Shepparton Hotel, The Bush Inn, Criterion Hotel, Royal Hotel, Farmer's Arms Hotel, Commercial Hotel, Terminus Hotel, Goulburn Valley Hotel, Union Hotel (now The Aussie), Victoria Hotel. Several of the original hotels were mostly wooden structures and were destroyed by fire - the Goulburn Valley, the Union, the Court House, the Terminus and the Commercial. FIRST HOTEL Welsford Street was at one time the busy part of Shepparton, and as in beginnings of nearly all settlement, one will find a hotel functioning. The first hotel, owned by Johnson Parsons, was established on the north-west corner of Welsford and High Streets. From 1853, when he built the inn (which later became known as Prince of Wales Inn) until he was forced to buy his own premises outright at the first land sale, he conducted this hotel until it came into the hands of Archer, who owned the first hotel in Mooroopna. It was later used as Rowe's general store. SHEPPARTON HOTEL The second hotel was opposite Parsons,' on the northeast corner. The earliest record of it as the Shepparton Hotel was in 1873. John Dooley ran the business, the building being later owned by William Fraser. Of the previous owners to Fraser, little seems to be known of it, save that it was a grog house at that remote period prior to Fraser' s time. It was Fraser's ambition to close up Archer's Prince of Wales Inn, and he set out to find a method of doing so. Archer owned the punt at this period. Fraser tried to buy the punt, but Archer was suspicious of the move and refused to sell. After a short period, Fraser got Mr. James Hay to buy the punt and the inn secretly. There had been jealousy between Fraser and Archer, and the latter did not dream that Hay was buying it for Fraser. THE BUSH INN The third hotel was in Welsford Street at the rear of where the Court House Hotel now stands. It was aptly named the Bush Inn, being in the midst of densely timbered surroundings. This was built soon after the other hotels, and had an interesting history before pre- selection days. After changes of ownership, it was eventually transferred to the site of the Court House Hotel and thus changed its name. OTHER HOTELS Then came the Criterion Hotel, where Mr. E. A. Norton's office and mart stands today at the south-east corner of High and Maude Streets. Further east from this hotel, about half-way between Corio and Maude Streets, on the south side, stands the remains of the old Royal Hotel. The proprietor of the Royal Hotel in the seventies was named Mitchell Day. It may be said here that he also conducted a store in conjunction with the hotel business. Where Canberra House now stands was George McCracken's Farmer's Arms, and further east on the same side of the street stood the old Commercial. The order of their coming into existence was as above. Then came the Terminus, the Goulburn Valley, the Union (now Hotel Australia), followed by the Victoria, built by Mrs G. Thorn. The Shepparton Hotel A short history (Shepparton News article)
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List of Shepparton Hotels:
Parson's Inn (Prince of Wales Inn) Shepparton Hotel Bush Inn Farmers Arms Hotel Criterion Hotel Court House Hotel Royal Hotel Commercial Hotel Terminus Hotel Goulburn Valley Hotel The Aussie Hotel (was the Union) Victoria Hotel |
Shepparton Hotel Footy Tipping Board 1960s. Click here for more photos