Summary

View of Manangatang Hotel & residence.

The Manangatang Hotel was the first licensed premises established in the Victorian mallee, officially opening on he 16th November 1918. A report of the event published in the Swan Hill Guardian & Lake Boga Advocate read:
'The opening of the Manangatang Hotel took place on Saturday, 16th inst. There was a large crowd present. Afternoon tea and ice drinks were served on the spacious verandah. Crs. R. Williams and H. Stafford and Messrs. Harvey and Howley spoke in complimentary terms of the provisions made for the opening of the first mallee victualler's licence granted. The proceedings opened by singing the National Anthem, and reference was made to the good news received regarding the war. The building is a fine substantial one, and kind remarks were bestowed on Mrs. O'Sullivan and Mrs. Logan for the manner in which all had been treated. Mr. Logan responded on their behalf, and thanked the people for the manner in which they had attended. A sports programme was carried out during the afternoon, and a concert was held in the evening.'

When the Manangatang Hotel license came up for renewal in 1925, the application was opposed by Superintendent J. C. M. Gleeson, licensing inspector, who described conditions at the hotel as 'insanitary and unfit for the accommodation of travellers', reporting that:
'When I visited the hotel it was poorly furnished, the sanitary arrangements were unsatisfactory, and the accommodation insufficient. I saw four beds in rooms where there should only have been two. The drainage from the hotel was emptied into a cesspit in the yard, and was allowed to percolate into the soil. The baths were rusty and dirty, and there were no lock or keys on either the bathrooms or bedrooms.'
According to Mr V. Tanner, chairman of the Licensing Court: 'The unsatisfactory state of the hotel is common talk among railway travellers in the district ...'
The licence was subsequently renewed on the condition that the licensee, A. McMahon, clean and disinfect the building, provide new furniture and bedding and complete renovations including the provision of locks on all bathrooms and bedrooms.

In an auction sale advertisement published in 1954, the Manangatang Hotel was described as "a single storey building containing Bar, 2 Parlors, Lounge, 17 Bedrooms, Dining room, Kitchen, Sleepout and Outbuildings".

Description of Content

View looking across a wide dirt roadway towards a large single-storey weatherboard building with two hipped gable corrugated-iron roofs and three brick chimneys. The building is situated on a street corner and has an extensive verandah with timber posts and timber fretwork ornamentation facing two frontages. There is a sign reading 'MANANGATANG HOTEL' above the right-hand doorway closest to the corner. There is a person working across the road towards the front door of the hotel (with their back to the camera), and another person seated on the verandah to the right, but apart from this the street is deserted.

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