Bacchus Marsh & District Historical Society
Photograph, Border Inn, Main Street Bacchus Marsh 1883
The Border Inn located on the corner of Main Street and Graham Street Bacchus Marsh opened in 1851 making it a very early hotel in Victoria. It was built and owned by John Pilmer. The first licensee was James Watt. The building has been added to and changed many times. It was originally a single storey building. A second storey was added in 1863 by John Pilmer. In 1866 the hotel was purchased by Edward Jones. The Jones family owned and operated the hotel until 1939. Additional second storey sections were added in 1883, 1904 and 1936. For a number of years the Border Inn was a stopping post for coaching services between Melbourne and Ballarat. The first licensee of the hotel James Watt was among the first in Victoria to offer a regular coaching service and his hotel was used for overnight accommodation by coach travellers. At the time this picture was taken coach services were still operating between Bacchus Marsh and other locations. The coach in this picture is possibly one of those coaches.This building has been documented as of state significance by Richard Peterson and Daniel Catrice in their 1995 heritage study for the then Shire of Bacchus Marsh. Their assessment of the heritage significance of the building was: "The Border Inn is of state historical significance as a pioneering pre-gold rush building, on the route to the Ballarat goldfields. It is the representative-embodiment of several historical periods and their way of life. It demonstrates a complex changing sequence of patterns of occupancy and architectural styles. Its development at this location, demonstrates the effect of a social movement, the gold rush, as a transport stopover.It is also historically significant for its association with the first rural public transport in Victoria.
Locally, the hotel is significance for its association with the first meeting of municipal government, and also for its social significance as a traditional community, visitor focus and meeting place".Small sepia unframed photograph on card with gold border framing photograph. Housed in the album, 'Photographs of Bacchus Marsh and District in 1883 by Stevenson and McNicoll'. The image shows the Border Inn Hotel at an angle depicting the front of the building facing directly to the camera. It is a two storey brick building, with one-story additions at either end. Five chimneys can be seen extending from the building. The bottom storey has a verandah extending onto the footpath. A covered wagon, probably a coach, with four horses in harness is in front of the building. There are several people in the image. Two people are sitting on the driver’s seat of the wagon. Another man is standing holding the reins of the horses. At his feet is a dog. Behind them are two male adults. One is holding a small child. A young boy stands beside him.On the front: Stevenson & McNicoll. Photo. 108 Elizabeth St. Melbourne. COPIES CAN BE OBTAINED AT ANY TIME.
On the back: LIGHT & TRUTH inscribed on a banner surmounted by a representation of the rising sun.
Copies of this Portrait can be had at any time by sending the Name and Post Office Money Order or Stamps for the amount of order to STEVENSON & McNICOLL LATE BENSON & STEVENSON, Photographers. 108 Elizabeth Street, MELBOURNE.
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Bacchus Marsh & District Historical Society
Bacchus Marsh & District Historical Society