A spiral bound volume presenting articles and information and timelines documenting the history of the Saleyards in Wodonga.This booklet is based on information from the Wodonga & Towong Sentinel newspaper leading up to the construction and opening of the Wodonga Municipal Saleyards in Elgin Street, Wodonga. It then documents key developments until the closure of the yards in 1980. Information on the closing of the yards, the buying and construction of new cattle yards at Bandiana from 1980 -1985 is also included. wodonga municipal saleyards, saleyards bandiana, saleyards elgin street wodonga

The Wodonga Hotel was constructed in 1940 at a cost of £10,000. It is now called Elgins Hotel. It was established after the transfer of the licence from the Halfway Hotel. This was the result of a lengthy hearing before the Licensing Board over two days in December 1939, There was some opposition from established guest house keepers and hotelkeepers. G. A. Adams, owner of the Carriers’ Arms Hotel was refused a hearing as he was not a resident, so Rachael Spence his manageress objected on the ground that it would do her hotel a lot of harm. Mr Luke Murphy represented the applicants, Irene Weatherall and Lena Pickering. He stated that the new structure would be of brick, cement and iron and contain 22 rooms. The site was near the municipal sale yard and near the railway station, and, he pointed out the trucking industry, which he believed to be larger than any other in Victoria, outside of Melbourne. The hearing was told of the bad state of the Half Way Hotel, having been there for almost 100 years. Luke Murphy was quoted as saying “If Hovell were here he could give evidence on that.” The lack of accommodation and quality accommodation at Wodonga hotels was frequently heard of. Costa’s Wine Café had very excellent accommodation for but only five or six people. The lessee of the-tea rooms at the municipal saleyards, also gave evidence. Mrs Lowden said that on sale day she served up to 130 dinners in addition to 10 or 20 breakfasts, and almost continuous light lunches. She did not think a hotel would provide a needed facility for patrons of the saleyards. In April 1940 the application was granted on the condition that premises were erected within 42 weeks. The hotel was used for soldier accommodation during World War II and experienced a boom period when Wodonga saleyards were located across the road. Irene House behind the pub also was constructed in the 1970s when Albury-Wodonga had been identified as a National Growth Centre by the Whitlam Labor government. After running the hotel for 5 generations, the Weatherall Family sold the business in 2021.These images represent an early business in Wodonga . 2 photos of the Wodonga Hotel and 1 newspaper advertisementwodonga businesses, a. e. costa, wodonga pioneers, early wodonga businesses, wodonga businesses high street

The sale of stock in Wodonga goes back to its earliest history with yards being operated on the site now occupied by Elgin's Hotel and the Centro Shopping Centre, located close to the railways. Horse sales were an important part of the history of the Wodonga Saleyards. Horses were bred in north-east Victoria for the Indian Market, and records show that a truck load of horses left Wodonga Station in 1875. Campbell & Sons commenced selling horses at the Elgin Street site in 1895 and they conducted regular sales in association with Younghusband Ltd. Campbell & Sons was a Melbourne-based company, which eventually merged with Wright Stephenson & Co. Wodonga and Towong Sentinel of Friday 3rd March 1899 reported “Buyers attended from Bendigo, Ballarat, Calcutta, Madras, Singapore, The Islands, Gippsland, Dandenong, and Melbourne. Indian remounts brought up to £32 10s, draughts to £25, medium draughts to £18, town hacks and harness horses to £32, buggy pairs to £65, and light weedy sorts to £5.” After World War II, large numbers of mainly Clydesdale working horse teams were driven to Wodonga for sale. The March horse sale was the biggest and most important event of the year with overall yardings of 1,000 horses sold over two or even three days. It was a very busy period. All the horses were put through the ring singly, usually by Felix Grundy and generally caught and mouthed by Harold Boon, Andy Elliot or Toy Mulqueeney. The majority of the horses sold were trucked by rail from Wodonga. With developments in technology and the changing role of the horse in modern society, the sale of horses dwindled although horse sales at Wodonga continued until the early 1980s.These items are significant because they represent an important industry in Wodonga's past as a major centre of livestock sales in Victoria.Photographic images of horses on sale at Wodonga Saleyards.wodonga saleyards, horse sales wodonga

Before the construction of the Wodonga Municipal Saleyards which opened in 1935, there were four private saleyards which operated in Wodonga. They were owned by Gippsland & Northern Co-Operative Co. Ltd., Dalgety & Co., New Zealand Loan & Mercantile Agency Co. Ltd. and Younghusband Ltd. When Mrs Julia Ronan nee Arundel lost her husband John to tuberculosis in 1906, she quickly decided to move from their small farm into Wodonga with her 3 children. She was granted the lease of the ground she needed to establish her eating house at one shilling per year in a shed on the Dalgety's saleyard block. Two established merchants Albert Schlink and John Whan and butcher Jack Garrett agreed to allow her credit which enabled her to open Ronan's Dining Rooms at the Saleyards. It was often a challenging environment, with drovers, and horse- breakers, auctioneers and bushmen bringing huge mobs of cattle and horses to the saleyards. Stories of the premises include the unexpected arrival in the passage of a lively bullock which finished up on the girls' bed. Mrs Ronan persevered and beat all obstacles to finally move from the saleyards to the Wodonga Coffee Palace in High Street, beside the railway gates in 1921.This item is significant because it captures one of the private saleyards which operated prior to the establishment of the Wodonga Municipal Saleyards.A black and white image of the sale yards at Wodonga c1907 with the dining room operated by Mrs Ronan on the right.Beneath image: View of Wodonga Mrs Ronan's Dining c1907 Wodonga Sale site, Corner Elgin (Melbourne Road) and Smythe Street, replaced by Municipal Saleyards in 1935. Photo: Bob Prentice, Donated by Mrs Val Phefleywodonga saleyards, mrs julia ronan