Notes: "The two-storey convict built Inn was one of the earliest and best known in the district. It had a carved staircase, made by convict labour. There were wide over-hanging eaves and the many windows had small panes of glass. There were sixteen rooms in the building. A huge pepper tree grew out the front with a camping ground nearby for the teamsters who made up a large proportion of the travellers in the early days.
It began life in 1827 as the Emu Ferry Inn or Wilson’s Hotel. The reason being that Wilson ran the inn and the ferry at that spot. He was the step-son of Josephson who built the inn. There was no bridge across the river. It was quite profitable for Wilson to run the ferry across the river as well as run an inn because he could decide if the river was too high, low or muddy to run the ferry and in consequence he probably did a good trade.
Around 1829 the name was changed to Pineapple Inn. However, when Charles Darwin stayed there in 1836 he said he stayed at the inn at Emu Ferry which could simply mean it was near the ferry. The inn was then taken over by Josephson’s real son, Henry and he changed the name to The Governor Bourke. Governor Fitzroy stayed there during his tour across the Blue Mountains in 1847 and was not impressed - the host and hostess “were so ultra-republican in their independence that they did not suitably address the Governor and his lady”.
At some time it was also called the George IV, and by 1882 a Mr Thurston from Lemongrove bought it. He sold it to TR Smith who changed the name to The Riverside. There was at that time much competition between hotels to try to attract the sporting crowd. A big boxing tournament was held at The Riverside but it resulted in many difficulties and fights and a broken arm. This hotel advertised “one of the most comfortable and complete hostelries in the district. Steam launches and boats were available for visitors; vehicles meet every train”.
In 1925 Sir Joynton Smith, Lord Mayor of Sydney, held interests in the Carrington Hotel at Katoomba, Hydro Majestic Medlow Bath and the Imperial at Mt Druitt. On his trips back and forward he deplored the fact that he could not get ‘a decent cuppa’ in Penrith. He bought the property and opened the Log House tea room. It was extended in 1939 to become The Log Cabin Hotel and granted a liquor licence. This became a popular out of town spot for Sydney-siders.
In the 1940’s a railway station was built nearby – although it had limited use and was demolished after 10 years. The hotel slowly declined over the war years. In 1955 Frank and Doreen McKittrick did extensions and constructed the motel. In 1969 Mrs. McCreedy who owned the Log Cabin was fined $20 on a charge that she did sell a certain article of food – to wit, rum, which had been adulterated. It seems that the Health Inspector tested all open bottles of spirits in the hotel and found the rum bottle quite weak – in fact approximately 4% water. Mrs. McCreedy thought it was caused by evaporation but the judge thought a member of staff had been taking a nip and filling it up with water so Mrs. McCreedy was fined."
The ‘Loggy’ as it was fondly known by locals, was an iconic Penrith landmark. It was destroyed by Fire, March 9, 2012.
Frank Walker (1861-1948) was President of the RAHS and a passionate supporter of local history. For much of his life he was literally an historian-in-the-field. He bicycled more than 22,000 miles (almost 35,000 kilometres) around country New South Wales taking thousands of images on glass plate negatives, many of which he later used as lantern slides for his lectures.
Format: b&w photo 9.5 cm x 7.5 cm
Date Range: 1914
Location: Penrith
Licensing: Attribution, share alike, creative commons.
Repository: Blue Mountains City Library
bmcc.ent.sirsidynix.net.au/client/en_AU/default/
Part of: Local Studies Collection SHS 185
Provenance: donation, from an album - ‘Western District Relics Illustrated’ by Frank Walker FRAHS, 1914.
Links:
penrithhistory.com/industries/history-of-hotels-in-the-pe...
issuu.com/weekenderpenrith/docs/wwmay1/69
The Emu Ferry Inn (1924, July 5). Nepean Times (Penrith, NSW : 1882 - 1962), p. 8. Retrieved June 21, 2018, from
nla.gov.au/nla.news-article108674417 