Hospitality
Myrtleford’s first hotel on Myrtle Street, on the way to the Buckland goldfields, was established in 1857 and called the Myrtle Creek Hotel. This small wooden structure also housed a dining room and store and it was the venue for inquests, court hearings and land auctions. This first hotel was renamed the Myrtleford Hotel in the 1870s, following the surveying and naming of the town as “Myrtleford” in 1858. The Gerraty family were prominent early licensees.
Other town hotels included the Prince of Wales (Clancy and O’Grady families), Cricketers’ Arms (Puzey and Johnson families) and Live & Let Live (Croucher family). They are no longer part of the streetscape of the town.
District hotels included the Junction Hotel (Mudgegonga-1880-1915), Ovens Hotel (still trading today) and the Forest Hotel, Gap Inn, Stoney Creek Hotel, Gapsted Hotel, Royal Mail Hotel and Blue Bell Inn which traded in the Gapsted-Bowmans area over the period 1855 to 1890. Hotels were also established at Running Creek (Havilah).
Other town hotels included the Prince of Wales (Clancy and O’Grady families), Cricketers’ Arms (Puzey and Johnson families) and Live & Let Live (Croucher family). They are no longer part of the streetscape of the town.
District hotels included the Junction Hotel (Mudgegonga-1880-1915), Ovens Hotel (still trading today) and the Forest Hotel, Gap Inn, Stoney Creek Hotel, Gapsted Hotel, Royal Mail Hotel and Blue Bell Inn which traded in the Gapsted-Bowmans area over the period 1855 to 1890. Hotels were also established at Running Creek (Havilah).
Junction Hotel, Mudgegonga
Established prior to 1880 by Thomas and Maria Evans. It was de-licenced and sold by their son James in 1921.
Myrtleford Hotel
Built in 1885 on Standish Street, the hotel remained residential only until 1920, when it acquired the licence of the original Myrtleford Hotel. This smaller establishment on Myrtle Street then became the Temperance Hotel.
Moore's Railway Hotel
The Railway Hotel, originally named the Monmouthshire Arms, was established before 1880 by David Carroll, the renaming occurring with the arrival of rail in 1883. The Moore family then conducted the hotel for some 50 years from 1901. The Buffalo Hotel was also established in the latter part of the 19th century and, like The Railway, had yards attached at the rear for the sale of stock and farm produce.
Railway Hotel, late 1930's
The Railway Hotel today appears essentially as it did in the 1930s. It is situated on the same site today.
Temperance Hotel
A second Myrtleford Hotel was erected in 1885 and remained unlicensed until a trio of businessmen purchased the original hotel and transferred the licence in 1920. The small hotel was then named the Temperance Hotel, being conducted by the family of Michael Matthews from 1922-48.
Buffalo Falls Temperance Hotel
The Buffalo Falls Hotel was located in the Eurobin Falls Valley, at the foot of Mt. Buffalo, near the entrance to the National Park and the well-known Eurobin Falls.
It was built during the heyday of the Buckland Gold Diggings in the 1850s.
This photograph was taken around the turn of the 20th century.
