Seagren's Building facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Seagren's Building |
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Seagren's Building, 2010
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| Location | 124 Charlotte Street, Cooktown, Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia |
| Design period | 1870s - 1890s (late 19th century) |
| Built | 1880s - c. 1900 |
| Official name: Motor Inn Motel, Seagren's Building | |
| Type | state heritage (built) |
| Designated | 21 October 1992 |
| Reference no. | 600420 |
| Significant period | 1880s-1900s (fabric) 1880s-1930s (historical) |
| Significant components | workshop, shop/s, residential accommodation - house/quarters above shop/s |
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Seagren's Building is a historic building located at 124 Charlotte Street in Cooktown, Queensland, Australia. It was built between the 1880s and around 1900. This special building is also known as Motor Inn Motel and Seagren's Inn. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register in 1992 because of its important history.
Contents
The Story of Seagren's Building
This two-story building is made of timber and galvanised iron. It was built in the 1880s for Pher Erick Seagren. He was a cabinet maker and furniture seller in Cooktown. He bought the land in 1880. Photos from the late 1880s show the building was already there. A verandah was added to the northern side around 1900.
Pher Erick Seagren's Life
The upper floor of the building was where the Seagren family lived. The ground floor was a shop where furniture was displayed. A photo from around 1888 also shows a large workshop at the back.
Pher Erick Seagren was born in Sweden in 1845. He learned how to make cabinets and worked in Copenhagen. He then moved to Queensland, Australia, in 1871. In 1873, he married Rosetta Bradish in Rockhampton. She had also moved from London in 1871.
Seagren came to Cooktown in February 1874. He planned to join the Palmer River gold rush. But instead, he decided to open his furniture business in the growing town. He was one of Cooktown's first citizens. People say his son, William Erick Endeavour, was the first white boy born in Cooktown in 1874.
Cooktown's Early Days
Cooktown started in October 1873. It was the port for the Palmer River goldfields. The town grew very quickly. Within six months, it had many shops and restaurants. By April 1874, many licenses were given for pubs. Two newspapers started in Cooktown in 1874. The town became a municipality in 1876.
A railway was built from Cooktown to Laura between 1884 and 1888. This helped the port grow even more. By 1900, the Cooktown-Palmer River area had 35,000 people. Cooktown became a big center for mining, pearling, and farming.
Seagren's Business Growth
In the 1880s, Seagren was listed as a cabinetmaker and furniture dealer. He also sold glass and china. In 1889, he advertised his furniture warehouse. It was located near the Queensland National Bank on Charlotte Street. This is where the building is today.
By 1898, P.E. Seagren bought the land next door. It had two shops. Around 1900, a verandah was added to the upper level on the north side of his shop-house. This area was later used as shop space downstairs. In 1915, Seagren bought the land on the south side, which had a small shop.
Later Years and Legacy
After 1900, the gold from the Palmer goldfield started to decrease. Cooktown's importance as a port also went down. Seagren's Building survived a big cyclone in 1907. It also survived a fire in 1918 that destroyed buildings across the street.
P.E. Seagren passed away in Cooktown in 1934 at 88 years old. After his death, the furniture warehouse closed. Furniture made by Seagren became valuable collector's items.
Seagren was a very important person in Cooktown. He lived there for 60 years. He owned a lot of land and was a respected member of the community. He worked hard to help Cooktown grow. He was involved in local government for many years. He was even the mayor of Cooktown twice: from 1898-1901 and 1905-1908.
People said he worked with great energy to improve the town. The good condition of the streets and public works was thanks to his ideas as mayor. Seagren was also a Justice of the Peace. He served on the Hospital Board and School Advisory Board.
In 1924, the property was given to Seagren's daughter, Gertrude Blanche Muller. After she died in 1949, it went to her children. They sold the building in 1952. Not much is known about what the building was used for between the 1930s and late 1960s. Then, Margaret Edmonds and Adrienne Gravenor opened a newsagency, boutique, and tourist information center downstairs. In 1973, they bought the building. By 1975, they turned it into the Motor Inn Motel. Later, it was a hotel called Seagren's Inn.
What Does the Building Look Like?
The building is on a slope, rising from Charlotte Street. The front part has two stories and is at street level. The back part has one story and is half a level higher.
The front section has a steep roof. It goes back to a gable end and then drops to a lower gable roof. A single-story lean-to is attached to this.
The building is made of timber. The first floor has an exposed timber frame. The rest of the building is covered with fibrous cement sheets. These might have replaced or covered the original corrugated iron.
A two-story verandah runs along Charlotte Street. It also goes along the north side. The verandah has a cast iron balustrade on the first floor. The balustrade panels seem to have been moved. There are different types of verandah brackets, and some were added later. A deep valance (decorative trim) is below the verandah. This was often used for signs. Timber posts support the verandah. They divide the original part into four equal sections. A fifth, wider section was added on the northern end. A divider is on the first-floor verandah, north of the main hall.
A shop is on the ground floor. It goes through the whole two-story section. It has French doors at the entrance and large timber-framed windows on each side. The original wide horizontal timber panels are still on the walls.
An entrance to the stairs from the street is on the south side. It leads up to the verandah along Charlotte Street. Extensions from the early 1900s enclose the north side. The first floor has guest rooms off a central hall. The inside of the back part of the building seems to have been changed.
Why Seagren's Building is Important
Seagren's Building was added to the Queensland Heritage Register in 1992. This means it is a very important historical site.
A Look into Queensland's Past
The building shows how Queensland's history unfolded. It is important proof of how Cooktown became a major regional center and port in far north Queensland in the late 1800s. It shows the busy times of the 1880s when Cooktown seemed to have a bright future. It also shows how people from other countries helped Queensland grow.
A Rare Piece of History
This building is special because it's one of the few old Charlotte Street buildings left. These buildings show how active Cooktown was in the 1870s, 1880s, and early 1890s. It is one of Cooktown's oldest buildings. It is the last building of its kind on Charlotte Street. Even though it became a motel, it still shows what a shop-house from that time in far north Queensland looked like.
Learning from the Building
The building can help us learn more about Queensland's cultural heritage. We don't know much about how Scandinavian building styles influenced Queensland in the 1800s. Seagren's Building might be important for future studies on this topic.
A Great Example of its Type
Even though it was changed into a motel, the main parts of the building are still there. It is a rare example of a two-story shop-house from the late 1800s in North Queensland. It was built with timber frames and corrugated iron. It has verandahs on the front and side of the upper level. This shows how building materials and designs were adapted for a distant tropical place.
Beautiful and Historic
The building is on the main shopping street in Cooktown. It adds to the historic look of the street. Nearby are other important buildings like the Westpac Bank Building, the former Bank of North Queensland, the Cook Shire Council Chambers, Mary Watson's Monument, and the former Cooktown Post Office. The old stone kerbing in Charlotte Street also adds to the historic feel.
Connected to a Key Person
The building is important because of its long connection to Pher Erick Seagren. He was a cabinet maker, furniture dealer, and a leader in Cooktown. He was a Swedish immigrant who helped shape Cooktown's development in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Images for kids
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Pher Erick Seagren, Cooktown pioneer
