324:, which would bring the terminus closer to the eastern end of Flinders Street and to the retail and business heart of Townsville. Almost immediately (June 1900), applications were lodged to erect hotels on two corners of the nearby intersection of Flinders and Blackwood Streets - one being the Great Northern, the other replacing an existing hotel (possible the Newmarket Hotel). Both applicants intended to erect first-class hotels, both argued that Townsville suffered a lack of first-class accommodation - the hotels erected during the boom of the 1880s no longer offering the level of comfort and facilities required by turn-of-the-century travellers - and both applications were approved provided the buildings were erected within the time specified (9 months in each case). Only the Great Northern came to fruition, and when opened early in 1901, was marketed as the hotel closest to the new Townsville terminus of the
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spacious public rooms. It also played a major role in the social life of the growing town. As with most early hotels in
Australia, the Great Northern was a place for the community to meet and socialise, and for nearly a century the hotel has remained a popular drinking venue and prominent and well-known element of the city townscape.
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was underway in 1900, the station building was not erected until 1914. Despite this delay, the Great
Northern Hotel proved popular with travellers from its opening. Designed and run as a first-class hotel, the Great Northern offered a high standard of service, good food, comfortable airy bedrooms and
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Internally the building remains largely intact, despite some refurbishment of the
Flinders Street wing of the ground floor, which contains the public bars. At this eastern end part of the ground floor has been converted into two shops and one has been reconstructed to form part of a second bar area.
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panelling. To the left of this foyer is the original office and office furniture. The former dining room to the right has been converted into a reception room and a new dining room opened in a room through the leadlight doors at the back of the foyer. The main internal staircase, rising from the
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panels above the internal doors survive, while others have been replaced with glass or timber. The upstairs rooms are accessed from a T-shaped hallway with decorative masonry archways at regular intervals, and each bedroom has French doors opening onto front or rear verandahs.
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The Great
Northern Hotel, a large, two-storeyed brick and timber hotel, was erected in 1900–1901 for Townsville timber firm Wilson Hart & Company, owners of the site. It was designed by prominent Townsville architects Tunbridge and Tunbridge.
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The main door of the hotel addresses
Blackwood Street, closest to the railway station and leading to the reception, dining and accommodation areas of the hotel. This entrance retains its original timber joinery and
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On 15 May 2015 a 19-year-old
Townsville man was arrested in relation to a fire at the historic Great Northern Hotel in the city. The iconic hotel suffered internal damage on the lower level.
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The Great
Northern Hotel is located on a prominent corner site at the intersection of Flinders and Blackwood Streets, within an historic precinct which includes the 1914
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363:(1896), Lowth's (1897 - demolished), Victoria Bridge (1900 - demolished), Empire (1901), Sovereign (1904) and Carriers Arms (1906 - demolished).
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Upstairs, there has been little alteration to the fabric of the building. The ceilings and most of the bedroom partition walls are the original
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The architects, Tunbridge & Tunbridge, designed a first class brick and timber hotel of 36 bedrooms, estimated to cost between
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on the lower level, adorn both street frontages. The timber verandah posts on the ground floor are decorated with fluted
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The main entrance doors in the
Flinders Street wing have been replaced with aluminium and the bars refurbished.
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and oval lawn, garden and mature trees, the 1932 Newmarket Hotel on the opposite corner, and the vista towards
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announcement in 1900 of plans to erect a new
Townsville railway terminus on land off Blackwood Street beside
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The application to build the Great
Northern Hotel appears to have been initiated following the
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The Great Northern Hotel is a substantial two-storeyed, L-shaped brick building with
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to Flinders and Blackwood Streets. It has a corrugated-iron roof, hidden behind a
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and above the landing is a feature window with early leadlight central panes.
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on 8 October 2014). The geo-coordinates were originally computed from the
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boarding (horizontally-jointed on the walls). Many of the original
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18:"Great Northern Hotel" redirects here. For the fictional hotel in
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Roe, Isobel; Horn, Allyson; Calderwood, Kathleen (15 May 2015).
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Although work on preparing the Blackwood Street site for the
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on 21 October 1992, having satisfied the relevant criteria.
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Queensland Heritage Register sites located in Townsville
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Blackwood Street foyer, has well- crafted turned timber
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This Knowledge (XXG) article was originally based on
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decorated with classical motifs. Wide verandahs with
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235:Location of Great Northern Hotel in Queensland
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263:Great Northern Hotel, Townsville (Australia)
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585:"Queensland heritage register boundaries"
46:Great Northern Hotel in Townsville, 2005
596:licence (accessed on 5 September 2014,
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461:Great Northern Hotel was listed on the
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29:Historic site in Queensland, Australia
504:"Great Northern Hotel (entry 600908)"
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512:. Queensland Heritage Council
630:Queensland Heritage Register
509:Queensland Heritage Register
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298:Tunbridge & Tunbridge
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137:Tunbridge & Tunbridge
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284:at 500 Flinders Street,
24:The Great Northern Hotel
318:Queensland Government's
326:Great Northern Railway
238:Show map of Queensland
198:Significant components
167:state heritage (built)
617:at Wikimedia Commons
600:on 15 October 2014).
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266:Show map of Australia
55:500 Flinders Street,
640:Hotels in Townsville
368:new railway terminus
304:on 21 October 1992.
278:Great Northern Hotel
159:Great Northern Hotel
35:Great Northern Hotel
590:State of Queensland
572:State of Queensland
405:roofing, cast-iron
93:19.263°S 146.8147°E
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421:and capitals, and
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188:Significant period
180:Reference no.
61:City of Townsville
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555:Attribution
388:Castle Hill
378:Description
357:Rockhampton
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84:146°48′53″E
72:Coordinates
67:, Australia
624:Categories
469:References
435:sidelights
355:and later
335:8,000 and
322:Ross Creek
294:Queensland
172:Designated
81:19°15′47″S
65:Queensland
20:Twin Peaks
542:24 August
444:balusters
423:leadlight
133:Architect
125:Built for
120:1900–1901
598:archived
580:archived
516:1 August
455:fretwork
403:bullnose
52:Location
419:columns
415:valance
411:friezes
399:parapet
395:facades
308:History
592:under
574:under
183:600908
22:, see
282:hotel
117:Built
544:2020
518:2014
439:dado
409:and
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164:Type
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