Imperial Hotel, York facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Imperial Hotel, York |
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Imperial Hotel, York, in 2018
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| General information | |
| Location | 31°53′28″S 116°46′06″E / 31.8911°S 116.7682°E |
| Address | Corner of Avon Terrace and Joaquina Street |
| Town or city | York, Western Australia |
| Construction started | 1886 |
| Renovated | 1987, 2018 |
| Type | State Registered Place |
| Designated | 13 July 2007 |
| Reference no. | 10725 |
The Imperial Hotel in York, Western Australia was a very important building. It was the first hotel in York to use a new style of hotel design. This style made the hotel stand out on a main street corner. It had tall, fancy double verandahs all around the front. The main entrance opened right onto the street. The building looks like it's in the Victorian Filigree style.
Contents
The Railway Comes to York
For a long time, the road from York to Guildford was very bad. This made it hard to move farm products. In 1881, a railway line opened from Fremantle to Guildford. This line was then extended to Chidlow.
Two engineers, James William Wright and Edward Keane, won the job to build the railway line extension to York. The railway line reached York in 1885.
Building the Hotel
In 1885, some land in York was divided into smaller blocks. This land was on the south side of South Street. It belonged to a merchant named John Henry Monger Jnr. The new railway line was being built through this land. The York railway station was also going to be in this new area.
Two men, James Grave and Edward Keane, bought two blocks of land. These blocks were on the corner of Avon Terrace and Joaquina Street. This street led directly to the new railway station. James Grave was an investor in the railway line to York.
In December 1885, Grave, Keane, William Mumme, and Frederick Monger borrowed a lot of money, £4,000, from the Bank of New South Wales. They likely used this money to help build the hotel. Frederick Monger was John Henry Monger Jnr's son. William Mumme was a big partner in the Swan Brewery and owned a small brewery in York. The hotel started being built in November 1885. A. J. Castledine and A. B. Wright were the builders. Mr. Castledine also watched over the work.
Grand Opening
On May 29, 1886, a man named Frederick Thomas Pamment announced he wanted to get a license to run the hotel. At that time, the hotel had thirteen bedrooms and four sitting rooms. These were extra rooms, not counting the ones for his family. This notice showed that Pamment was renting the hotel from Keane, Monger, Grave, and Mumme.
A newspaper called the Western Mail wrote about the hotel in July:
The “Imperial Hotel”, is finished and will be opened on Thursday next..... One noticeable feature in the building is that the bar trade is entirely distinct from the hotel, while a suite of detached rooms, now nearly complete, are intended for second class lodgers. Along the entire front of the hotel is a handsome balcony over one hundred feet in length, from which a nice view is obtained. The landlord Mr. F. T. Pamment, late of the Clarendon Hotel Perth, aided by workmen from the W.A. Manufacturing Company, has had a stiff week of it in making preparations for the opening.....Adjoining the Hotel there is to be a large music hall 70 x 50 feet in the clear and material is now being carted for its erection. The whole of the works have been constructed under the immediate superintendence of Mr Castledine who deserves every credit for the care he has taken.
The Imperial Hotel officially opened on July 8, 1886. The local newspaper only mentioned it briefly, saying it seemed to be popular. An advertisement in October 1886 described the hotel. It had private dining rooms and special suites of rooms. There were also sample rooms for people traveling for business. Guests could use plunge and shower baths. The hotel had a great billiard room with a top-quality table. There were also good stables for horses with a helpful worker.
Fire Incident
On February 10, 1894, a fire started around midnight. It began in some shops next to the Imperial Hotel. These shops were made of metal. The fire started in a furniture warehouse. The flames broke through a window into one of the hotel's bedrooms. Luckily, people were able to put out the fire there. They stopped it from burning down the main hotel building.
The billiard room below the bedroom was damaged. Many billiard cues and balls were also harmed. Luckily, the wind was blowing the flames away from the hotel. If it had blown the other way, the hotel would have been much more damaged. People moved furniture into the street to save it. They also moved horses and vehicles from the stables to a safe place.
An Unfortunate Accident
In February 1898, a man named Charles Playter was staying at the Imperial Hotel. He usually lived in North Fremantle. One very hot night, Mr. Playter stepped out of his window. He was used to doing this at home to get cool air on his verandah. But at the Imperial Hotel, there was no verandah or balcony outside that window. He fell about 18 feet to the ground. He was found later that morning and had serious injuries from the fall.
Later Years of the Hotel
After it was built, the hotel was very busy because it was so close to the York railway station. At that time, Albany was the main port in Western Australia. All travelers passed through York. The hotel was also popular during the early gold rush years. People going to the goldfields would get off the train in York. Then they would travel the rest of the way on foot. This busy trade slowed down after the mid-1890s. That's when the railway line was extended further to Southern Cross.
In 1892, the Swan Brewery Company took over William Mumme's share in the hotel. By 1901, they owned the entire building. Over the years, the hotel's ownership changed many times.
Around 1900, a single-story building was next to the hotel on Avon Terrace. This was probably the music hall mentioned earlier. It was removed in 1910.
In 1920, a stone kitchen was added to the hotel. The public bar was made bigger. The dining room was moved to a new spot. From 1933, the rooms for "second class lodgers" were used for staff.
The hotel was damaged by the 1968 Meckering earthquake. The two-story verandah had to be taken down. The building's condition got worse. In 1981, it was closed because it was not safe to live in. It was also damaged by people and weather.
After some repairs, the hotel was bought by York Motels Pty Ltd in 1987. David Ayoub, a local builder, was part of this group. He rebuilt the verandahs. He used wrought iron made in Sydney to match the old design. However, some of the fancy arches and the curved roof of the verandah were not put back.
In the early 2000s, a fire in the stables destroyed the wooden parts of that building. Only the stone walls were left. The hotel was renovated around 2010. Then, a group of local farmers renovated it again in 2018. The Imperial Hotel has now reopened. It offers meals and drinks to visitors.
