History
MOLE CREEK HOTEL - eST. 1908
A Brief History of the Mole Creek Hotel
The Mole Creek Hotel was built in 1907-08 by Edward Charles James on 2.5 acres of land with 28 rooms as a hotel.
The builders mixed the mortar and laid up to 1,600 bricks a day. The sand and gravel used for the building was carted by horse and dray from Dog’s Head, about 10 miles away.
Mole Creek Hotel Circa 1919
Initially it was built as a hotel, but because of a clause inserted in the Title by a previous owner by the name of Henri Reed, it could not be used as such. The clause stated that ‘no property owned and sold by Henri Reed could be used for the sale or consumption of liquor until the property had sold 3 times with each owner having owned it for 25 years.
The building remained empty for 12 months then part of it was used as a shop, until 1910 when George Lee and his family made it into a guest and boarding house, naming it ‘Mountain View Guest House’.
An English Magnolia tree, which was planted by Alice Lee and her son Lewis in 1915, is still a striking feature of the garden in the hotel grounds.
In 1929, a Mr R P Furmage started a grocery and hardware store in the building and in the early 1950s he bought the freehold of the property. He then set about trying to overturn the clause in the contract so as he could use the building as a hotel.
A Liquor Licence was granted on June 1st, 1953, and in February 2008, Doug and Ramona Westbrook became the 12th Licensees of the Mole Creek Hotel.
Mole Creek - Circa 1907
