Ipswich City Council presents
Heritage Week
Rubbidy-Dubs to PUBS
Then & Now

Historical Hotels of the Country Towns of Ipswich

Map showing the Historical Hotels of the Country Towns of Ipswich

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Walloon Saloon

    The Walloon Hotel was in existence by at least 1891 when its licencee was Sarah Lawson. Walloon is a very historic township, growing up around one of the original stations on the first railway line in Queensland. A school opened in 1865 and coal mining began in the area in the 1870s.

Rising Sun, Rosewood

    There are conflicting reports about the origin of this hotel. An early hotel in Rosewood was the Sunrise Hotel on the Toowoomba Road, kept by William O’Brien. This burnt down and James Ryan built a new hotel closer to the railway, apparently naming it the Rising Sun. It was advertised for sale in July 1878 but burned down later that year. It was immediately rebuilt and by 1879, was owned by the Sloane family. The new two-storey hotel was designed in 1908 by Ipswich architect Will Haenke and was built by C. Risdale who probably started work around December 1908. The plans show four large and two smaller rooms on the upper floor and a large bar room and a billiard room on the ground floor. The curved bar is shown with elaborate pedimented shelving against the wall. As no kitchens etc are shown, the older hotel building probably remained in use on the site. A newspaper report on the progress of the new building mentions that the older hotel building was bodily moved aside from the corner to allow construction of the new Haenke building.

Rosewood Hotel, Rosewood

    The earlier Rosewood Hotel and eight other buildings were destroyed in a huge fire in January 1914. The hotel was rebuilt shortly afterwards. It is a very handsome two-storey building, with an interesting double verandah - there is an awning across the footpath, then the entrance is approached across a small open verandah which is recessed from the footpath and surrounded by a decorative timber valance.

Royal George Hotel, Rosewood

    There has been a Royal George Hotel in Rosewood since the 1890s. The building was badly damaged in a fire in October 1933 in which a boarder died. Note the hitching rings on the verandah posts.

Map showing the Historical Hotels of the Country Towns of Ipswich

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Royal Hotel, Harrisville

    The hotel opened in 1875. It burned down prior to 1920 and was replaced by the current building. It has a prominent position at a T-junction and people enjoying a drink on the verandah can look right up the main street of the town.

Commercial Hotel, Harrisville

    A licence for this hotel was granted to Ellen Butler in 1901. The original hotel burned down in 1939 and the present two-storey building was constructed later the same year

Map showing the Historical Hotels of the Country Towns of Ipswich

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Marburg Hotel, Marburg

    The hotel was built as a single-storey building by Wiegand Raabe c1881. The site was registered in his wife’s name in mid-1880; a mortgage of 180 pounds was taken out in January 1881 and by June 1881, races and sports were being held at Weigand Raabe’s Marburg Hotel. It was the first hotel in the town. Mr Raabe died in 1883 and the hotel was placed under trusteeship; in mid-1884, his widow renewed the hotel licence and married Otto Sakrzewski, a Marburg storekeeper and carpenter who then held the licence from mid-1885 until mid-1887. Thomas Mortimer held the licence from mid-1887 until mid-1890 at which time Sakrzewski was appointed trustee and renewed the licence. The second storey was probably added in 1890 when a mortgage of 600 pounds was taken out. The Sakrzewski family held the licence until 1921and retained the freehold until 1925, having been sold to Otto’s brother Albert c1915. The hotel then passed through several owners and licencees until purchased by the Queensland Brewery in 1936. It has been Marburg’s sole hotel since 1947. The Bowden family acquired the freehold in 1986.

Map showing the Historical Hotels of the Country Towns of Ipswich

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Other Country Hotels (Not Historic)

Grandchester Hotel

    The first railway line in Queensland was built from Ipswich to the Darling Downs. In 1865, the first section of this line was officially opened as far as Grandchester. Grandchester Hotel is near the town’s historic railway station.

Peak Crossing Hotel

    One of the early roads to the Darling Downs passed through this area. The name refers to the crossing over Purga Creek, near the present-day State School; it was initially called Peak Mountain Crossing but the name was later simplified. The town of Peak Crossing developed around a hotel, store and cotton gin developed by William Watkins in 1869. The current hotel dates from the late 1970s.

Sundowner Hotel, Haigslea

    Originally called Kirchheim, this area was settled by German families. The original hotel was named the Crown built by Wiegand Raabe in the late 1870s and operated by Henry Lutz. The current hotel was built in the late 1970s.

Map showing the Historical Hotels of the Country Towns of Ipswich

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You can also see the locations of other hotels in the Ipswich Region

Historical Hotels of the Central Business District, North Ipswich, West Ipswich and Brassall
Historical Hotels of the Eastern Suburbs of Ipswich

To find out more about the "watering holes" of the rest of the Ipswich Region click on the links listed below

Historical Hotels of the Central Business District, North Ipswich, West Ipswich and Brassal
Historical Hotels of the Eastern Suburbs of Ipswich
Other information about hotels

Ipswich City Council, Ipswich Library and Information Services
Updated - 3 July 2007