Freemasons Hotel, Geraldton facts for kids

The Freemasons Hotel is a really old and important hotel in Geraldton, Western Australia. You can find it right in the middle of Geraldton, at 79 Marine Terrace. It's a famous building that has been around for a long time!

A Look Back in Time

The Freemasons Hotel first opened its doors in the early 1870s. It was on a different spot back then, very close to where it is today. In 1891, a person named Onslow Austin Trigg was in charge of the hotel.

A brand new Freemasons Hotel was designed by Henry Stirling Trigg and built in 1895. This new building was one of the biggest and most important buildings in the area at that time.

Inside the Hotel

Building the new hotel cost a lot of money, about £6,000, and the furniture inside cost another £2,000. The hotel had 45 rooms in total!

On the ground floor, there was a main bar and a special entrance from Marine Terrace. There was also a saloon bar with three ways to enter it. The hotel had four smaller rooms called parlours, and a music room where people could enjoy tunes.

A cool hallway led from the street to the bars. It also led to a fancy billiards room, which was quite big. This room had a special billiards table that came all the way from Melbourne. There was also a large dining room that could seat 60 people! It had beautiful wooden furniture. Another hallway led to rooms for people staying at the hotel. The ground floor also had a luggage room and a room for reading and smoking.

Upstairs, a big staircase made of jarrah wood led the way. It had fancy columns and an arch. On the upper floor, there were 21 bedrooms. There was also a smoke-room, a ladies' parlour, bathrooms, and places to store linen. Three of the bedrooms were for two people, and the rest were for one person. Outside, the building had a balcony on three sides and a tall tower on the corner.

The Hotel Today

The Freemasons Hotel is still a very important building in Geraldton. It was officially listed as a local heritage place on June 23, 1998.

Around 2001, some parts of the hotel were fixed up. The two balconies over the footpaths and the corner tower, which had been taken away, were put back. More work was done in 2014 to fix the doors between the front and lounge bars, and the whole building got a fresh coat of paint.

A Place for Music

The hotel is also a popular place for live music! Many famous artists have played there, like Jon English, The Angels, Angry Anderson, Daryl Braithwaite, and the Bondi Cigars.

Images for kids

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  The Freemasons Hotel, Geraldton