Coffee palace

The Federal Coffee Palace, erected at the height of the temperance movement was the largest and tallest building in Melbourne when it was built in 1888. The building became a hotel in the 1950s. It was proposed as a possible option for Melbourne's first casino however was instead demolished in 1972 to make way for an office development. The largest former temperance hotel in Melbourne is now the Hotel Windsor (formerly the Grand Hotel).

Melbourne Coffee Palace, one of the earliest, including interior views in 1881

The term Coffee Palace was primarily used in Australia to describe the temperance hotels which were built during the period of the 1880s^[1] although there are references to the term also being used, to a lesser extent, in the United Kingdom. They were hotels that did not serve alcohol, built in response to the temperance movement and, in particular, the influence of the Independent Order of Rechabites in Australia. James Munro was a particularly vocal member of this movement. Coffee Palaces were often multi-purpose or mixed use buildings which included a large number of rooms for accommodation as well as ballrooms and other function and leisure facilities.

The beginnings of the movement were in 1879, with the first coffee palace companies founded in the cities of Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide. The movement in particular flourished in Melbourne in the 1880s when a land boom that followed the Victorian gold rush created an environment in which it was the construction of lavish buildings and richly ornamental high Victorian architecture, often designed in the fashionable Free Classical or Second Empire styles to attract patrons. Many of the larger establishments were bestowed prestigious names such as "Grand" or "Royal" in order to appeal to the wealthier classes.

Coffee palaces were popular in the coastal seaside resorts and for inner city locations attracting catering for families as well as interstate and overseas visitors.

Ironically as the temperance movement's influence waned, many of these coffee palaces applied for liquor licences. Many have since been either converted into hotels or demolished; however, some significant examples still survive.

Australia

Victoria

Melbourne

• Collingwood Coffee Palace. 232 Smith Street, Collingwood (now in Fitzroy) (1879 – constructed as a four storey building) (demolished - though two levels of the facade remain atop a Woolworths supermarket)
• Brunswick Coffee Palace, Brunswick (1879)^[2]
• The Coffee Palace. Flinders Street. (1880)^[3]
• Victoria Coffee Palace. Collins Street East (1880 - began as the Victoria Club) (demolished)^[4]
• Melbourne Coffee Palace. Bourke Street. (1881)
• Grand Coffee Palace (1883) (now renamed the Hotel Windsor)
• Gladstone House Coffee Palace, North Melbourne
• The Biltmore, Albert Park (1887)
• Victoria, Albert Park
• The George, St Kilda (1887)
• Mentone Coffee Palace, Mentone (1887) (now Kilbreda College)
• Auburn Hotel, Auburn (1888)
• St Kilda Coffee Palace, St Kilda
• Prince of Wales Coffee Palace
• Federal Coffee Palace. Corner of Collins and King Streets, Melbourne (1888) (demolished 1972)
• Garand Open House, Melbourne (demolished)
• Parer's Crystal Cafe. 103 Bourke Street, Melbourne (demolished)
• Burke & Wills Coffee Palace. Corner of Collins and Russell Streets, Melbourne (demolished)
• Queen's Coffee Palace. 1 Rathdowne Street, Carlton (demolished 1970)
• Hawthorn Coffee Palace, Hawthorn (demolished)
• Moris's (West Melbourne) Coffee Palace, West Melbourne (demolished)
• Sandringham House, Sandringham (demolished)
• James' Coffee Palace, Williamstown (demolished)
• Prahran Coffee Palace, Prahran, Victoria^[5]

• 

  Hotel Windsor (formerly the Grand Coffee Palace)

• 

  Victoria Hotel – now private apartments

• 

  The George, St Kilda – now private apartments

• 

  Auburn Hotel

• 

  St Kilda Coffee Palace – now backpackers hostel

• 

  Mentone Coffee Palace – now Kilbreda Girls' School

• 

  Collingwood Coffee Palace in 1879

• 

  Melbourne Coffee Palace in 1882

• 

  Hawthorn Coffee Palace in 1887

• 

  Federal Coffee Palace in 1889

• 

  Queens Coffee Palace in 1889

Ballarat

• Reid's Coffee Palace (1886)
• Victoria Coffee Palace.^[6] Cnr Lydiard and Doveton Crescent. Soldiers Hill. (demolished)

• 

  Reid's Coffee Palace, Ballarat

Bendigo

• Sandhurst Coffee Palace (demolished)
• Central Coffee Palace (demolished)

• 

  Sandhurst Coffee Palace in 1890

Queenscliff

• Palace (1879)
• Baillieu (1881) (later renamed Ozone Hotel)
• Vue Grande (1883)
• Queenscliff Hotel (1887)

• 

  Ozone, Queenscliff

• 

  Royal, Queenscliff

Other

• Mildura Coffee Palace, Mildura, Victoria
• Ozone Coffee Palace, Warrnambool
• Marnoo Coffee Palace, Marnoo, Victoria
• Wimmera Coffee Palace, Horsham, Victoria^[7]

Tasmania

• Imperial (Hobart) Coffee Palace, Hobart, Tasmania (built in two sections, firstly in the 1880s then extended in 1910. Cast iron verandah, balcony and mansard roof were removed during the 1950s and the 1910 extension was demolished in the 1960s)
• Tasmanian Coffee Palace, Hobart, Tasmania, 89 Macquarie St (established in Ingle Hall which was built c1814). Also known as Norman's Coffee Palace, the Orient, and Anderson's. Now home to the Mercury Print Museum.
• Federal (Sutton's) Coffee Palace (later Metropole), 67 Brisbane Street, Launceston, Tasmania (demolished 1976)
• Shield's Temperance Hotel (Shield's Coffee Palace), 77 Esplanade, Launceston, Tasmania. Ironically established in the former Burten Brewery in 1859,^[8] the building was eventually reduced in size as the Monds Flour Mills expanded in the early 20th century with the building finally being demolished in the 1950s.
• Commonwealth Coffee Palace, 23-29 Tamar Street, Launceston, Tasmania (demolished 1960s)

• 

  Launceston Coffee Palace, Brisbane Street

• 

  The Imperial, Hobart

South Australia

• Grayson's Coffee Palace, Adelaide, South Australia (demolished 1918)
• Coffee Palace, Hindley Street, Adelaide, South Australia (known as Grant's 1908-1919; Wests 1919-). Identified by architects as one of the most significant 20th century buildings in South Australia.
• Port Pioneer Coffee Palace. Hindley Street, Adelaide. (1879)^[9]

New South Wales

• Sydney Coffee Palace, Sydney, New South Wales (founded 1879, rebuilt 1913-1914) (demolished ?)
• Sydney Coffee Palace, Woolloomooloo, New South Wales
• Grand Central Coffee Palace (1880), Sydney
• North Queensland Coffee Palace, George Street, Sydney
• Canberra Coffee Palace, Manly, New South Wales (built 1912, demolished 1955)
• Dorrigo Coffee Palace, [Hickory St, Dorrigo, New South Wales] (burnt down sometime after 1923)
• Bee Hive Coffee Palace, Sydney NSW
• Great Western Coffee Palace, Sydney NSW
• Town Hall Coffee Palace, Sydney NSW
• Johnsons Temperance Coffee Palace. York Street, Sydney. (built 1879)^[10]
• Rose and Crown Coffee Palace. Knightsbridge, Sydney.^[11]
• Alpine Heritage Motel (built as: Goulburn Coffee Palace) Goulburn, New South Wales

• 

  Grand Central Coffee Palace

Queensland

• People's Palace, Brisbane (built 1910-11, in 2015 operating as a backpackers' hotel)^[12]
• Canberra Hotel, Brisbane (built 1929, sold 1985 and later demolished)^[13]
• Royal George, Nambour, Queensland (built 1911, licensed in 1912 and destroyed by fire on 15 February 1961)
• Hill's Coffee Palace Dalby, Queensland

Western Australia

• Horseshoe Coffee Palace, Perth WA
• Burnett's Coffee Palace and Temperance Hotel (Perth's first 'Coffee Palace', although the building, constructed c1834, was previously the (licensed) Devonshire Arms, prior to that The Mason's Arms), corner Hay and Barrack Streets, diagonally opposite Town Hall, Perth WA ^{[14] [15]}
• Ellis's Grand Central Coffee Palace (still standing as the Grand Central Hotel), Wellington St, Perth WA ^[16]
• Continental Coffee Palace (Wellington St, Perth WA ^[17]
• Rechabite Coffee Palace, Wellington St, Perth WA ^[18]
• Royal Coffee Palace, 165-167 Murray St, Perth WA ^[19]
• Musson's (Sydney) Coffee Palace (Hotel), Murray St, Perth WA ^[20]
• Cornwall Coffee Palace (previously the Yankee Coffee Palace), 239 Murray St (between William and Barrack Sts), Perh WA ^[21]
• Prince of Wales Coffee Palace, Murray St, Perth WA ^[22]
• (Shafto's) Victoria Coffee Palace, Wellington St, Perth WA ^[23]
• Wilson's Coffee Palace, King St, Perth WA ^[24]
• Paris Coffee Palace, corner of James and Pier Sts, Northbridge WA ^[25]
• Worsleys Coffee Palace, Katanning, Perth WA
• Metropolitan Coffee Palace, Stirling St, Northbridge WA ^[26]
• Britannia Coffee Palace, 323 William St, Northbridge WA ^[27]
• Perth Coffee Palace, William St, Northbridge WA ^[28]
• 1904 Wise Directory has 20 coffee palaces listed in Perth and other locations in W.A>^[29][30]

United Kingdom

• Douglas Coffee Palace, Douglas, Isle of Man (demolished 1930)^[31]
• Newport Street Coffee Palace, Swindon
• Ossington Coffee Palace, Newark-on-Trent

See also

• Temperance movement
• Melbourne
• Queenscliff

Bibliography

• Grand Hotels: Reality and Illusion. Elaine Denby. Reaktion Books, 2002

References

1. Grand Hotels: Reality and Illusion. Elaine Denby. Reaktion Books, 2002. p. 174
2. Australian Town and Country Journal (NSW : 1870 - 1907) Saturday 13 September 1879 p 10 Article
3. South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900) Saturday 25 September 1880 p 1 Advertising
4. https://www.victoriahotel.com.au/a-short-history-of-the-victoria-hotel/
5. The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) Saturday 24 January 1880 p 6 Article
6. Ballarat: A Guide to Buildings and Areas, 1851-1940. Jacobs Lewis Vines Architects and Conservation Planners. 1981. p. 90. ISBN 978-0-9593970-0-0. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
7. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article72923577 Horsham Times, 9 April 1918 via Trove
8. Miranda Morris-Nunn and C.B.Tassell (1982). "Launceston's Industrial Heritage: A Survey Part One" (PDF). Retrieved 15 January 2016.
9. South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900) Saturday 14 June 1879 Supplement: Supplement to the South Australian Register. p 7 Advertising
10. The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) Monday 9 June 1879 p 2 Advertising
11. The South Australian Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1858 - 1889) Friday 20 June 1879 p 4 Article
12. "People's Palace (entry 600096)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
13. Cohen, Kay; Donovan, Val; Kerr, Ruth; Kowald, Margaret; Smith, Lyndsay; Stewart, Jean; Royal Historical Society of Queensland (issuing body) (2014), Lost Brisbane : and surrounding areas 1860-1960, Brisbane, [Queensland] Royal Historical Society of Queensland, with QBD The Bookshop, ISBN 978-0-10-101888-3
14. "YESTERDAY —and the DAY BEFORE - CONDUCTED BY CYGNET. | The Masons' Arms. - Western Mail (Perth, WA : 1885 - 1954) - 30 Aug 1934". Trove. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
15. "No title - Western Mail (Perth, WA : 1885 - 1954) - 23 Aug 1934". Trove. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
16. "A New Coffee Palace. - Sunday Times (Perth, WA : 1902 - 1954) - 15 Nov 1903". Trove. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
17. "Classified Advertising - The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954) - 21 Sep 1897". Trove. Retrieved 2016-04-17.
18. "THE RECHABITE ORDER. - A COFFEE PALACE FOR PERTH. LAYING OF THE FOUNDATION STONE. - Western Mail (Perth, WA : 1885 - 1954) - 20 Aug 1892". Trove. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
19. WA, State Library of. "025585PD: The Royal Coffee Palace, 165-167 Murray Street, Perth, 1911. In the same building is the Kilty store and next building is the Australia Hotel :: slwa_b3016904_1". purl.slwa.wa.gov.au. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
20. "MIDLAND JUNCTION WANTS - DEPUTATION TO MINISTER FOR WORKS. - The Daily News (Perth, WA : 1882 - 1950) - 25 Jun 1906". Trove. Retrieved 2016-04-17.
21. "BUSINESS ANNOUNCEMENTS. - The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954) - 14 Sep 1901". Trove. Retrieved 2016-04-17.
22. "SUNDAY TRADING. - PUBLICANS PROSECUTED. TWO CONVICTIONS. - The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954) - 14 Jul 1904". Trove. Retrieved 2016-04-17.
23. "Classified Advertising - The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954) - 3 Aug 1897". Trove. Retrieved 2016-04-17.
24. "POLICE INTELLIGENCE. - CITY COURT. THURSDAY, MARCH 4TH. (Before Messrs. M. F. A. Canning and J. Quinlan. J's.P.) - The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954) - 5 Mar 1897". Trove. Retrieved 2016-04-17.
25. "BUSINESS ANNOUNCEMENTS. - The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954) - 23 Feb 1900". Trove. Retrieved 2016-04-17.
26. "SUNDAY TRADING. - PUBLICANS PROSECUTED. TWO CONVICTIONS. - The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954) - 14 Jul 1904". Trove. Retrieved 2016-04-17.
27. "LICENSING DAY. - PERTH. - The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954) - 6 Dec 1898". Trove. Retrieved 2016-04-17.
28. "Over the New Railway Bridge. - An Established Fact. The People Should Take Notice. - Truth (Perth, WA : 1903 - 1931) - 7 Oct 1905". Trove. Retrieved 2016-04-17.
29. http://www.slwa.wa.gov.au/find/guides/wa_history/post_office_directories/1904 pp.730-731 on 0396.pdf
30. Brady, Wendy (1983) Serfs of the sodden scone: women workers in the West Australian hotel and catering industry, 1900-1925 - in Studies in Western Australian History number 7 (Women in Western Australian history), pp.33-45 - including work in coffee palaces
31. http://www.douglas.gov.im/GalleryShowCat.asp?Cat=Streets&ID=46

External links

• Trove search for Coffee palaces