Historical information

During the depression of the early 1930s, men on the dole carried out work for the Wodonga Shire Council. One of the projects during the term of councillor Mick Martin, as shire president, was to seal the footpaths in central Wodonga.
Local business people supplied the cement. The police department refused to fund the cement for its section of High Street, north of the railway line, which included the police station and the courthouse. The then licensee of the Terminus Hotel offered to provide the cement for sealing the footpath in front of the police station and courthouse. This offer was made on the condition that tiles bearing the words Terminus Hotel be inserted into the footpath pointing toward the hotel.The police objected but the hotel licensee, Tex Bailey, won the day. As a result, his hotel’s tiled name was inserted into the footpath in front of the police station.
Cr Mick Martin’s son, Des, wrote to the council in 1967 asking that the sign be preserved and it was moved to the Terminus Hotel and placed in the footpath there.

Significance

The Terminus Hotel was one of the earliest hotels in Wodonga with clear links to the establishment of the railway line. It was an important business and meeting place for social gatherings.

Physical description

The name, Terminus Hotel worked into the brickwork of the footpath when they were surfaced by sustenance workers during the 1930s Depression.

Inscriptions & markings

"TERMINUS HOTEL"