A travelling stock route ran along the western side of the Namoi River, which had been officially proclaimed on 19 February 1878, and a wine licence was granted to Mr J. Barnes in August 1879. Within a few years, a reserve had been established beside the river, and the village of Goangra emerged. In 1882 Edward Nash built a hotel at Goangra, however he was declared insolvent in 1883 with his assets placed under sequestration. When the Goangra Hotel was listed for sale in September 1885 it was advertised;
“GOANGRA HOTEL, TOWN OF GOANGRA in High Street, about 20 miles from Walgett, to which the railway may yet run, and then this property may be close to the line. The land is ONE ACRE being lots 2 and 3, fronting HIGH STREET, and extending to a lane. GOANGRA HOTEL is of wood, with good accommodation and stabling to carry on the business.”
The Sydney Morning Herald
James O’Neil held a licence for The Carriers Arms at Goangra in 1885, though his tenure may have been problematic for some. In 1886 news from the licensing court reported;
“James O’Neil applied for a renewal of the licence of his hotel “The Carriers Arms” at Goangra township…..Mr Licensing Inspector (Sergeant) Pountney opposed its renewal on many grounds…the bench finally granted the application but not until after long consideration.”
The Maitland Mercury, December 9 1886
By 1887 the hotel received a new lease of life under the stewardship of a well-known Walgett publican and whiskey distiller;
“Mr Richard K. Thompson, so well known as the late host of ‘The Telegraph’ in this town, and more recently as the licensee of the ‘Two-Mile Warrambool Hotel’ has once more shifted his flag and this time to Goangra (Twenty miles from Walgett). He is now the landlord of the Carriers Arms. When he means ‘biz’ few men can run a whisky mill better.”
The Maitland Mercury, April 28, 1887
Richard Thompson maintained the licence until 1890, but nothing further is known about the Carriers Arms, while occasional references occur for Goangra Hotel. This establishment was licensed by Charles Boyd in 1891, a former coach driver who died the same year, with the ownership transferring to Annie Boyd, presumably his wife, by 1892. The hotel appears in notices like the one below from the 1890s:
“RAILWAY EXTENSION TO WALGETT.
Sydney Morning Herald – July 1897
COME BY CHANCE, Friday – A well-attended meeting of landholders and others interested was held at Goangra Hotel, Goangra, yesterday, when the question of railway extension to Walgett was warmly advocated.“
There are also mentions of a hotel identified as ‘Bakers Hotel’ Goangra as late as 1903.