A bit more about Barraba district pubs
History Notes
I hope readers enjoyed the photos of the Barraba Hotels as much as I did they came up very clearly and the history for the most part was correct. However, I cannot help but make a couple of changes.
Barraba Inn with James Sinclair in 1860 - alcohol was provided at the McKid business at first, then James Sinclair and a few short- term owners until it became Tattersall's in the 1890's. It was burnt to the ground in 1898, then rebuilt on the block next door as the Royal (this allowed the store next door to be built in 1908). Sadly, the pub was burnt to the ground in 1935 leaving a spare block on the corner until the Commonwealth Bank built there. The Post Office moved there when the bank left town.
Across the street, the Court House was known as Wilkinson's hotel while the coaches stopped there. They moved to the Commercial in October, 1894, and the name reverted to Court House until the re-construction about 1905 when it became the Central Hotel.
The My Venture Hotel was a later pub, even later than the Eulourie which ran as the Horton Inn from September, 1874, until at least the early 1880's. Otto Rabe may have been at the Horton but I have no reference to it. He ran the Commercial Hotel in Barraba for a few years, also ran one of the Bingara Hotels for a while, had a tobacconist business for a lot of years in Barraba. He died on 29th March, 1925 at the age of 60 years. He would not have been old enough to run the Horton Pub pre-1880.
The Horton hotel was run by the Gainen family for most of its history. The Maitland Mercury in 1878 described the Upper Horton as a small village with 2 stores, a butcher's shop, one hotel and two bakeries. The Gainen family moved to the village in 1880, taking over the hotel almost immediately and running it with its own bakery and post office for many years. John Gainen was also a landowner, owning some 500 acres on the western side of the river and some more on the eastern side.
The Horton Hotel continued under various owners - Miller, Russell and O'Brien kept it going for another 25 years. It closed down on 27th, November, 1941, and the building has been demolished.
This weekend is a Market Day weekend with all the usual attractions and of course chairs and tables so people can sit and chat and/or eat. We will be visited by a couple of councilors as per last week's advertisement so come along and ask them a few questions.