Grand Hotel, Mount Morgan

Grand Hotel is a heritage-listed hotel at 39 Central Street, Mount Morgan, Rockhampton Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.HistoryThe Grand Hotel is a two storey brick hotel building and was erected on the corner of Morgan and Central Streets, Mount Morgan.The township of Mount Morgan grew with the establishment of what was to become the richest gold mine in the world. Although small mining claims occurred before 1882, the three Morgan Brothers pegged claims which encompassed most of the mountain top in that year. In July they formed a partnership with three Rockhampton businessmen before selling out to them in 1886 when the Mount Morgan Gold Mining Company Limited was formed. By the following year even the Queensland Post Office Directory noted that "the importance of this place as a goldfield can scarcely be exaggerated." This led to the rapid development of a township to provide an infrastructure for the increasing population. This development included the construction of a number of hotels, of which the Grand Hotel was one of the most elaborate.The land on which the Grand Hotel was to be constructed was originally part of the huge portion 247 of 640 acres, acquired in 1883 by members of the Mount Morgan Mine syndicate. It was subdivided in 1895 and leased to a number of people who probably had constructed dwellings and commercial buildings on it. In September 1900 a lease on sub 1 of section 6 at the corner of Morgan and Central Streets was acquired by Richard Daniel Shaw. Shaw was an auctioneer and real estate agent although he had held the license on the Leichhardt Hotel in Mount Morgan in 1897. He took out a mortgage for £2000 on his interest in November 1900 and also £4912/1/2 on subs 14-17 in the same block in March 1901.