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

Historical Hotels of the Eastern Suburbs of Ipswich

Map showing the Historical Hotels of the Eastern Suburbs of Ipswich

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Prince Alfred Hotel

    The Prince Alfred Hotel has been in existence since the 1860s when it was operated by Denis Bergin. It was near the large cotton plantations at Booval, and in 1868, a bag of cotton was stolen from the premises. The old hotel became run down and in 1891, appears to have been replaced with a two-storey timber building surrounded by verandahs. Beer was served from wooden kegs, kept at the ice works across the road, and any beer remaining at the end of the day was bottled. Miners had their own room and their own keg. The old hotel burned down in 1961 and locals tell the tale that, as the fire raged and it became obvious the building could not be saved, onlookers drank “one for the road” with the last beer they could grab from the cold room. A new hotel was later built on the same site.

Racecourse Hotel

    This relatively modern hotel was built around 1960 on the site of an earlier historic hotel. It stands near the Ipswich Racecourse at Bundamba.

Raceview Tavern

    This modern tavern takes its name from the suburb of Raceview. The area adjacent to the tavern was originally the Grange Racecourse, the first racecourse in Queensland. One race held at this course in 1861 offered prize money greater than the Melbourne Cup of that year.

Map showing the Historical Hotels of the Eastern Suburbs of Ipswich

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Kerwick Hotel, Redbank

    The Kerwick is named after Nicholas Kerwick who was born in Kilkenny Ireland but spent most of his youth in the north of England. He came to Ipswich and worked on the Brisbane Valley Railway line, then lived at Redbank for several years. Later he became the licencee of the One Mile Hotel.

Commercial Hotel (Redbank)

    A handsome two-storey timber building, believed to have been constructed about 1910. The verandahs were enclosed for many years but were opened up again in the late 1980s, returning the hotel to almost its original form.

Royal Mail, Brisbane Terrace, Goodna

    There has been a Royal Mail Hotel at Goodna since the 1860s when the area was on the main road to Brisbane. The present-day hotel, apparently not on the same site as the original, was built in 1894.

Map showing the Historical Hotels of the Eastern Suburbs of Ipswich

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

Historical Hotels of the Ipswich Central Business District, North Ipswich, Brassall, West Ipswich
Historical Hotels of the Country Towns 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 Ipswich Central Business District, North Ipswich, Brassall, West Ipswich
Historical Hotels of the Country Towns of Ipswich
Other information about Hotels

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