Federal Hotel

Statement of Significance

The hotel is one of the earliest in Collie having been built by 1900. It is an imposing structure with an elegant two storey verandah straddling the street.

Physical Description

The Federal Hotel dating around 1900 is a substantial two storied structure in red brick with a corrugated asbestos roof. The street facade is adorned with a two storey timber verandah straddling the footpath. The hotel stands to the east of the Post Office and was part of an early centre for shopping which was largely destroyed by fire sometime after 1903. The two storey hotel stands on the south side of Throssell Street to the east of the main concentration of shops and hotels which are grouped opposite the railway station. Originally flank-ed by single weatherboard storey shops, it now stands alone but for a block of brick walled shops to the east. The walls are face brick painted white at ground floor level. The roof is a ventilated hip with the ridge running parallel to Throssell Street. At each end of the street elevation there is a small gable with brick infill approaching the street. The street elevation is sheltered with a two storey verandah of five bays separated by pairs of columns but for the two western most bays which are separated by a single column. This anomaly is explained by the fact that these two bays were the added after the original construction. The verandah has a sheeted balustrade at first floor level and a sheeted valance at ground floor level. The interiors at ground floor level are decorated with pressed metal ceilings and the staircase with dark stained carved balustrades stands in the originally constructed part of the building.

History

Assessment 1988 Construction c. 1900 The Collie area was visited by pastoralist in the early 1880s. Coal was discovered by one of these people Arthur Perrin in 1882. He did not make his discovery public until he entered an agreement with David Hay, a Bunbury businessman in 1889 when they had claims pegged in their joint names. (Williams H. W. p 10) At a ceremony at the Bunbury showground in November 1889 a ton of coal from a seam worked by Hay, who had begun prospecting on his own behalf, was burned. The Governor Sir Frederick Broome, announcing the discovery of coal on the Collie River, named Hay as the discoverer. Later a reward for discovering coal was awarded jointly to Arthur Perron and Hay's widow. (Williams H. W. p 13) Subsequent drilling by various interests proved the existence of coal in abundance. Collie grew dramatically between the years 1898 and 1902. A railway linking Colliefeilds with Brunswick was opened in 1898. The Station was called Collieville in order to distinguish it from the station on the Perth to Bunbury line at Roelands which was then known as Collie. Shortly after the official opening the name was changed to Colliefields and in December 1899 the name Coilie was adopted. (Williams H. W. p 26) The first Colliefields Hotel was built in 1897 for Tom Camgg. It was across Throssell Street from the present site opposite the station. 'The hotel consisted of a small iron and weatherboard construction adequate only for the erection of a bar for dispensing drinks and containing a billiard table. Later the Colliefields Hotel was established on its present site. The Premier Hotel was opened in 1901 with The Commonwealth, now the Club, Federal, Crown, Commercial and the second Colliefields commencing within a year or so. (Williams H. W. p 40) An early photograph shows the Federal hotel with narrow frontage single storey weatherboard clad shops fronting Throssell Street on each side of the hotel. The hotel had at that stage three bays to the two storey verandah instead of the five bays of today.

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