Railway Hotel, Gympie facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Railway Hotel, Gympie
Railway Hotel, 2010
Location	1 Station Road, Gympie, Gympie Region, Queensland, Australia
Design period	1900 - 1914 (early 20th century)
Built	1915
Built for	Charles Caston
Architect	Alexander Brown Wilson
Queensland Heritage Register
Official name: Railway Hotel
Type	state heritage (built)
Designated	12 June 2008
Reference no.	602540
Significant period	Early 20th century (1900s -1910s)
Significant components	bar, hotel / inn, dining room, kitchen/kitchen house, cellar
Builders	J J Georges
Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 420: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).

The Railway Hotel is a historic building in Gympie, Queensland, Australia. It's a special hotel that has been around for a long time. An architect named Alexander Brown Wilson designed it. J J Georges built it in 1915. This hotel is so important that it was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on June 12, 2008. This means it's protected because of its history and unique features.

A Look Back: The Hotel's History

The Railway Hotel in Gympie is a large, two-story wooden building. It was built between 1915 and 1916 for its owner, Charles Caston. This new hotel replaced an older, smaller Railway Hotel from 1882. Both hotels stood on the same spot.

Gympie's Gold Rush Days

Gympie started after gold was found in the Mary River area in October 1867. This gold discovery made Queensland a big gold producer. It brought much-needed money to the young colony. Thousands of people came to the Gympie goldfield after the gold was found. A small town quickly grew.

At first, Gympie had simple, temporary buildings. But soon, more permanent and stronger buildings were built. The town was a good market for local timber workers. It also helped farmers in the area. By the late 1870s, people were digging deep underground for gold. Companies invested money in machines and workers. In 1881, the mines started producing a lot of gold. This began a new time of wealth for Gympie.

Railways and the Hotel's Location

The 1880s were a big time for railways in Queensland. New train lines opened all over the state. Gympie's gold mining was very important for the economy. This led to building a train line between the port of Maryborough and Gympie. The line opened in August 1881. It quickly became the main way to move goods and people in and out of Gympie.

Gympie railway station was built near land owned by Walter A Compigne. He was an important local official. In 1882, Mr. Compigne built the first Railway Hotel on his land. He used the hotel's close spot to the train station to his advantage.

As Queensland's railway system grew, hotels often opened near train stations. The name "Railway Hotel" became very common by the 1860s. It was a popular way to show that a hotel was close to the station. By the early 1900s, there were almost 70 "Railway Hotels" in Queensland.

Mr. Compigne did not run the hotel himself. He preferred to rent it out to other people. After he passed away in 1884, his wife Mary Ann continued to lease the hotel.

Changes and Rebuilding

In 1888, work began on the North Coast railway. It started from both Brisbane and Gympie at the same time. The land where the Railway Hotel stood became smaller because of this expansion. In May 1888, there was a call for bids to move the Railway Hotel. This was likely to put the hotel in a better spot after the land changes.

The train line connecting Gympie to Brisbane opened in 1891. This created a coastal route from Brisbane to Bundaberg. More train services from Gympie station meant more activity around the railway area. In 1892, Charles Caston became the owner of the Railway Hotel. His family owned the hotel for over 60 years. Mr. Caston also continued to lease out the hotel.

On February 1, 1915, a fire almost completely destroyed the Railway Hotel. Only a few separate rooms at the back were saved. In May, ads were placed for building a new Railway Hotel. The design was by Brisbane architect Alexander Brown Wilson. Wilson was a well-known architect who designed many buildings. These included the Plough Inn at South Bank.

Gympie builder JJ Georges won the contract to build the new hotel in June 1915. It was finished by February 1916. The new hotel was a large, two-story wooden building. It had balconies on the first floor and a double-gabled roof. There was a separate kitchen building at the back. Wilson's design was perfect for a wooden hotel in a warm climate. It had well-ventilated rooms with high ceilings. Guest rooms opened onto front and back balconies. The inside of the building had beautiful pressed metal ceilings.

A Busy Railway Hub

The hotel's high spot overlooking the station made it a famous landmark. Building the new Railway Hotel happened at the same time as big upgrades to the Gympie railway station. New buildings and a pedestrian subway were added. A large bridge was built in 1915. This bridge connected Lady Mary Terrace and Station Road. It was great for the Railway Hotel. People walking from the bridge would arrive right in front of the hotel.

The opening of the Mary Valley railway in 1915 brought more people and goods through Gympie. The Gympie area was the biggest producer of bananas in Australia in the 1920s. It was also important for growing pineapples. Fruit trains started running from Gympie to Melbourne. The railway area was central to Gympie's economy. This gave the Railway Hotel more chances to do good business.

In 1928, a brewing company called Castlemaine Perkins bought part of the hotel's lease. This company bought many hotels across Queensland. This helped them become very strong in the Queensland market.

A report from 1936 shows how the Railway Hotel was set up inside. It was typical for hotels of that time. The first floor had 12 guest bedrooms and a sitting room. The ground floor had eight guest rooms, a dining room, and a bar. There were also separate rooms at the back for the owner and staff. The hotel was busy and well-kept. Many travelers stayed there.

Castlemaine Perkins was involved with the hotel until 1945. The Caston family stopped owning the hotel in 1953. Since then, many different owners have managed it.

The public bar was made bigger in 1966. The dining room was also extended. Some parts of the building have changed over time. The garage and separate rooms are gone. In recent years, a beer garden was added at the back.

In 1989, a new railway station for Gympie was built. Since 1998, the original Gympie railway station has become a tourist spot. The Mary Valley Heritage Railway runs steam train rides there. The Railway Hotel still offers drinks, food, and rooms for visitors and locals.

What the Hotel Looks Like

The Railway Hotel is a well-known building on one of Gympie's hills. It's a two-story wooden building at the corner of Station Road and Tozer Lane. From its high spot, next to the old Gympie railway station, the hotel has wide views of Gympie. A wooden footbridge connects the hotel and the railway station.

The Railway Hotel is a large, rectangular building. It has a hipped roof covered with corrugated iron. The building faces northeast. It has a wooden frame and is covered with wooden boards. It stands on brick and concrete stumps on a sloping piece of land. The front of the building has two parts that stick out. These parts have painted signs that say RAILWAY (on the east side) and HOTEL (on the west side). They also have fancy metal decorations.

The balconies on each floor have wooden decorations. The first-floor balcony has wooden posts with long, curved brackets. It also has a decorative railing. On the ground floor, enclosed balconies are on either side of the main entrance. Double-hung windows with wooden awnings are on the sides of the building.

The ground floor entrance is not in the middle. It has a projecting gable roof with a metal decoration at the top. Low tiled concrete stairs lead up to the wooden entrance porch. This porch has large, decorative brackets. A four-panel wooden entrance door with glass side panels opens into the main hall. A side door opens into a sitting room. A metal ramp runs along the front of the building. The public bar is on the east side of the building. You can enter it through doorways on the northeast side.

The ground floor has the entrance hall, manager's office, dining room, and public bar. From the entrance hall, a nice wooden staircase goes up to the guest rooms on the first floor. The dining room is to the left, and the manager's area is to the right. The hall goes through to the back balcony, which has toilets. The walls inside the ground floor rooms are made of wood. All the public rooms have decorative pressed metal ceilings, ceiling roses, and cornices.

The dining room connects to a service hallway at the back. It also connects to the public bar through a door. The former lounge area has sliding doors and a billiard table.

The public bar has been updated. It includes the former parlor bar. There are signs that walls used to be in different places. Murals on the walls and bar decorations are new.

The first floor has a central hallway with arched openings. It has 12 bedrooms, a recreation room, and two storage cupboards. Balconies are at the front and back. The narrow back balcony has bathrooms and toilets. Short hallways connect the front and back balconies. The bedrooms open onto the main hallway and the balconies. The walls are made of wooden boards. The ceilings are also made of wooden boards and have decorative metal ceiling roses. Windows are at each end of the hallway and in the end rooms.

Old gas light pipes and fittings are still on the upper and lower back balconies. The original doors, windows, and hardware are still in the building. The building has wooden floors everywhere, except for the upper balconies, which now have a thick fiber cement board.

A two-room wooden building, the kitchen/laundry wing, is at the back of the main building. You reach it from the back ground floor balcony through a hallway. The roof of the kitchen/laundry is covered with corrugated metal. A two-sided fireplace with a tall brick chimney is in the center. The kitchen has been updated. The laundry ceiling has wooden boards and a decorative metal ceiling rose.

A modern beer garden is to the northwest of the kitchen/laundry. This part is not considered historically important.

A paved parking lot slopes uphill towards the railway line. A concrete fence runs along the northeast side of the parking lot. Terraced garden beds with stone walls are below the parking lot. These beds have shrubs and concrete stairs.

Why the Hotel is Special: Heritage Listing

The Railway Hotel was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on June 12, 2008. This means it meets certain important rules.

Showing History's Story

The Railway Hotel in Gympie was built in 1915. It stands on a spot where a hotel has been since 1882. It's important because it shows how towns grew from the 1860s. Businesses, like hotels, often gathered near train stations. The Railway Hotel in Gympie is a great example of this. The way the hotel is so close to the train station and connected by a footbridge shows how hotels and railways depended on each other. They helped move people and goods before cars became common. The hotel's location was perfect for train travelers. For decades, it has offered rooms, food, and drinks to visitors and locals.

The building of the new Railway Hotel in 1915-1916 happened during a time of big growth in Gympie. The Gympie railway station was also improved. This was linked to the growing importance of the area's dairy and fruit farms.

Unique Hotel Features

Even though some parts of the hotel have changed, especially on the ground floor, the Railway Hotel in Gympie is still very much like it was. It shows what a large wooden hotel from the early 1900s was like. You can see this in its shape, outside details, and inside layout. High ceilings and balconies show how it was built for Queensland's warm weather. The decorations on the balconies and gables show how home designs influenced hotel architecture back then. Inside, it has a beautiful wooden staircase. Many rooms have decorative pressed metal ceilings and ceiling roses. The original doors and windows are still there. The upper floor is very original, with old bedrooms opening off a central hallway. Old gas light pipes are still on the back balconies.

Beautiful and Important

The Railway Hotel is on one of Gympie's hills. It's a famous and well-known building in the town. Its spot overlooking the train station and next to the footbridge shows its connection to the railway. It also adds a lot to the look of the railway area and the town of Gympie.