Wilcannia Club Hotel in Wilcannia

Wilcannia Club Hotel

The Hotel was constructed in 1879 on the site of a previous hotel.

History Board Wilcannia Club Hotel.

"Wilcannia has never been short of hotels with as many as thirteen trading at one time. The first hotel in Wilcannia was located on this site, which has been since occupied by various hotels with a variety of names. The present Wilcannia Club Hotel was constructed in 1879.

With Wilcannia's economy booming in the late 1800s, the hotels did a roaring trade. E.F. Murphy recalls the year of 1876, whilst he was working on nearby Murtee Station.

Wilcannia was a busy place .. the main street only sand. The principal hotel was known as Mother Kinnivan's, a wooden building with a verandah all around where the Wilcannia Club Hotel stands today. You would find at least three horses tied to every verandah post, all the way around, and the place full of men knocking down their cheques.

Work was plentiful; stations in the district were mostly new, fencing and tank sinking were going on everywhere, and fresh cheque men were always arriving."