James Issacs held a licence for the Imperial in the 1880s, and it is mentioned in newspapers as a meeting place from as early as 1883 to at least 1885. Issacs Imperial Hotel was described in 1886 as a “two story brick hotel’” however, with its wide balconies extending over footpaths in both streets, a “Palatial Hostelry of which Mr Isaacs was the proprietor” is probably one of the more accurate descriptions. The construction of the building is attributed to Mr D. Edwards (who is also curiously identified as the proprietor) and is said to have cost £3000. The hotel was fortunate to survive a massive fire in Walgett which occurred in January 1884, destroying almost all the buildings, mostly commercial, on the western side of Fox street. This narrow escape was attributed largely to the hanging of wet blankets all along the balcony.
In May 1898, the Imperial was sold to Mr William Vanstone who went on to be a well-known property owner in the district, and the hotel continued to be a popular place for people to meet, celebrate, and relax in Walgett. The following year a further 10 new rooms were added to the building along with a spacious dining room, prompting the following description: “It stood at the corner of Fox and Wee Waa Streets and possessed splendid bedroom and balcony accommodation on the upper story, while the ground floor is all that can be desired in the way of business.”
Apparently the hotel was sold or leased to prominent Walgett business owner, Mr C. E. Thomas for a time, as the licence was transferred from his name to George Hutchinson in 1908. From 1908 onwards there were to be many changes in ownership/licence of the Imperial, and the building slowly modernised with the times, having electricity installed throughout in 1929.
After surviving the blaze of 1884, the Imperial Hotel finally succumbed to the scourge of fire, and was completely destroyed along with several other business premises, in a massive blaze in December 1935. A female cook, Mrs Coyne, died as a result of injuries sustained during the fire, with some reports saying she fell down the staircase, and others reporting a fall from the balcony after jumping through a window. Twelve years previously, Mr George Boyd had fallen from the balcony of the Imperial Hotel, apparently from sleep-walking during the night.
Following the fire, in 1936, the hotel was rebuilt. One of the landmarks of the town, it was regarded as one of the best country hotels in New South Wales. The second Imperial Hotel boasted 40 rooms, all with hot and cold running water and a dining room that seated 70 people. Unfortunately the new hotel was apparently not constructed to standards adequate to cope with the black soil conditions and simply fell apart with massive cracking and major structural problems. It had to be demolished in 1962, and a very much down-market and smaller complex, consistent with the architecture of the 1960s was its replacement.
Today the Gateway Inn stands where the three iterations of the Imperial Hotel once stood. It offers a fine drive through bottle shop and accommodation; however it has not had a functioning bar area since 2020.
Pubs and Breweries of Walgett
While there is no substantive hotel currently operating in Walgett, the village on the junction of the Namoi and Barwon Rivers is a major hub of pastoralism and cropping, as well as a place of great significance for Aboriginal people. During its history, there were at least eight separate hotels in Walgett at different times – and a brewery.