The original Palace Hotel was opened in 1886, the same year as the gasworks It was built on the river at the end of Tennyson Road, where the River Quays Marina now stands.
The first licensee was John Stuart. The hotel, known as Mongomery’s Palace, was a distinctive building with verandas and a tower which made it a popular vantage point for the viewing the sculling and rowing races along the Parramatta River.
This hotel was demolished in the mid-1920s and a new hotel, still named the Palace, was built further up Tennyson Road, nearly opposite the entrance to the gasworks. The gasworks entrance was also the Mortlake tram terminus.
Second Palace Hotel
The hotel became a very popular watering hole for the thirsty workers and was one of Sydney’s early-opener hotels. This variation to the normal hotel opening hours was to accommodate workers coming off night shift.
The hotel still serves excellent beer and has incorporated a bistro.
The Palace’s most striking feature is the size of its men’s toilet. “Big enough to hold a dance in”, quote the locals. This feature is a constant reminder that while the gasworks operated, the Palace dispensed huge volumes of beer to its many thirsty patrons.
Burial service for parrot One of the strangest graves in the ancient Western Road cemetery at Parramatta (NSW) is that of a parrot. For twenty years the bird entertained travelers at one of the hotels, and the wife of the hotel keeper become so attached to it that when it died she purchased a grave, hired a mourning coach…
Sunbeam Mixmaster In the years between the First and Second World Wars, Ivar Jepson designed and built dozens of kitchen appliances, including the indomitable Sunbeam “Mixmaster”. Born in Sweden in 1903, Jepson loved to design things as a boy, studied engineering as a youth, and went to Germany to pursue graduate studies in mechanical engineering. …
What a great day we had on 6th July when Lyndon Lockrey, Trickett’s Great, Great Grandson was our guest speaker. His stories of Edward Trickett and the glorious days of world championship sculling on the Parramatta River kept us all enthralled. On 30th June 1877, one year after Trickett won the world championship, he made…
David Claud Bauer was born to Julius and Jane Bauer of Avoca Street Randwick on 24 December 1889. He was educated at Melbourne Church of England School before leaving at the age of sixteen to study engineering at Dulwich College, England. On his return to Australia, he took up a position in his father’s pearling…
A guy was getting ready to tee off on the first hole when a second golfer approached and asked if he could join him. The first said that he usually played alone, but agreed to the twosome. They were even after the first few holes when the second guy said, “We’re about evenly matched, how…
Gladys Leslie who lived at 289 Concord Road, Concord ran a small dressmaking and millinery business from home during the 1920’s and 1930’s. It was an occupation that women were able to continue in after marriage and children. Gladys originally learnt dressmaking and tailoring in Lithgow, before joining a millinery firm in Sydney before marriage…
3 Comments
rod jeffery•
I have read before of the size of the men’s toilet but scratch my head . The men’s toilet still seems part of the original construction yet certainly is not huge by any measure . Does anyone know why the toilet size claim was made ??
Ian Smith•
There used to be another men’s toilet where the gaming room is. Entry was through doors where they now have the TAB corner from the main bar. That room was very large and suspect that was the reference.
John Becker•
Coincidentally I used the ‘Mens’ there today! I noticed the ladies is adjacent in the same access way, so perhaps they moved the Ladies from another location in the hotel and then could use the former space for something else?
My first time in the hotel which has lovely retained historical features. I will be back!
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I have read before of the size of the men’s toilet but scratch my head . The men’s toilet still seems part of the original construction yet certainly is not huge by any measure . Does anyone know why the toilet size claim was made ??
There used to be another men’s toilet where the gaming room is. Entry was through doors where they now have the TAB corner from the main bar. That room was very large and suspect that was the reference.
Coincidentally I used the ‘Mens’ there today! I noticed the ladies is adjacent in the same access way, so perhaps they moved the Ladies from another location in the hotel and then could use the former space for something else?
My first time in the hotel which has lovely retained historical features. I will be back!