Haunted

June 2, 2019

Urban Exploring: Golden Port Tavern

The History

The Golden Port Tavern was originally named the Globe Hotel. She was built in 1865 on the site of a previous hotel which burnt to the ground.

On ground floor was the main bar and snooker area with a small kitchen at the back.

Below ground, a number of rooms with the larger keg room located directly beneath the main bar.

Up-stairs were the guest rooms and a second smaller bar with a balcony looking onto the majestic St. Vincent Street of Port Adelaide.

Globe Hotel, St. Vincent Street, Port Adelaide, c1950. (Source: Supplied)

Ghost or Angel?

Beulah Hayter, an 8-year-old girl, lived with her mother on the first floor. Their room opened up onto the balcony and on warm nights Beulah would sleep outside on the balcony.

On one particular warm night, Beulah was woken by a lady dressed in a white flowing gown standing at the balcony door. At first she thought it was her mother. When she spoke to the woman and there was no answer she got scared and ran into her mothers room to find her sleeping.

Terrified, Beulah spent the night in her mothers bed.

That night a violent storm lashed Port Adelaide and tore the balcony from the hotel. Some say if it hadn’t been for the ghostly lady in white making herself known to Beulah, she would have been killed in the collapse.

Abandoned & Left to Rot

For nearly 150 years The Golden Port Tavern served the patrons of Port Adelaide. It wasn’t until 2008 that her doors closed, and she sat languishing in a state of decay.

For 10 years she sat abandoned. When we entered it was as if time had stood still — a true time capsule of The Port. Glasses were still sitting on their coasters from last drinks. Cue-chalk placed by cue sticks ready for the next game…

If you’d like to read other articles of disused and abandoned buildings of The Port, please see The Port Admiral Hotel, The Port Morgue, and Harts Mill.

wildstar Disused / Abandoned Buildings & Ruins, Urban Exploring (Urbex) Abandoned Building, Abandoned buildings Adelaide, Abandoned places in Adelaide, Adelaide, Adelaide Secrets, Adelaide Urbex, Globe Hotel, Golden Port Tavern, Haunted, Port Adelaide, Pub, Unseen Adelaide, Urban Exploration Adelaide, Urban Exploring, Urbex

February 18, 2018

Urban Exploring: The Port Admiral Hotel

The History

The building was built by Robert Sanders in 1849 (making her 169 years old), who named his hotel “Railway Hotel” assuming his pub would be conveniently located at the end of a proposed new horse-drawn train route down Port Road from Adelaide.

The Railway Hotel, Port Adelaide c.1850.

The horse-drawn railway line was postponed and when gold was discovered in Victoria the local workforce substantially disappeared to try its luck in the eastern colony.

In March 1851, Charles Calton took over the hotel and renamed it the “Port Admiral Family Hotel” having previously operated the “Royal Admiral” hotel in the city of Adelaide.

When the railway to Port Adelaide finally opened in 1856, the Port Admiral was ideally situated between the railway station and the wharf area; and it was on the busiest intersection in the Port. It attracted large crowds and was continually used for community meetings and special events.

Often the basement would be used as a makeshift morgue when the town morgue was full to capacity with bodies.

Rumour has it that a ghost, dressed in the apparel of the 1880’s, makes a regular appearance from time to time.

The Port Adelaide Heritage Precinct

Port Adelaide was declared a State Heritage Area in 1982 because of its extensive collection of late nineteenth and early twentieth century architecture. The precinct contains the most substantial and continuous grouping of commercial and administrative colonial buildings in South Australia.

The Port Admiral, being one of those buildings, is the oldest building in Port Adelaide, and the eighth oldest in South Australia.

Abandoned and Derelict

In 2006, the Port Admiral Hotel fell into disrepair and languished abandoned and derelict for the next decade.

The Makeover

It would have been no small undertaking to take on a project of restoring a building such as this one. Availability of building materials, heritage, building rules, regulations, time and budget would have all been a factor throughout its restoration.

But late last year, after two years of renovation, the historic hotel was re-opened.

And what a makeover it was! In just a few short years, the building was transformed from derelict to modern and functional. No easy feat. Well done to all those involved.

The restoration project is proof that older buildings can be restored to their former glory with a little time, dedication and perseverance.

wildstar Disused / Abandoned Buildings & Ruins, Underground Cellars, Basements & Cavities, Urban Exploring (Urbex) Abandoned Building, Abandoned buildings Adelaide, Abandoned Places, Abandoned places in Adelaide, Adelaide, Adelaide Secrets, Adelaide Urbex, Haunted, Photography, Port Adelaide, Port Admiral Hotel, Railway Hotel, Underground Basement, Unseen Adelaide, Urban Exploration Adelaide, Urban Exploring, Urbex

May 8, 2017

Urban Exploring: Girl in the Window

This story takes place outside of Adelaide in rural South Australia. A fellow explorer was out exploring with a girlfriend when something truly frightening happened to her.

Whether you believe in ghosts or not, it’s tough not to get freaked out when you’re alone and you hear something bump in the night or even hear a voice.

But that’s exactly what happened.

They entered an old stone building that appeared to have not been used for many years. Her girlfriend mentioned it was haunted, but being a non-believer she dismissed it as an attempt to scare her.

They both explored the lower rooms and headed upstairs to investigate further.

Having now searched each room, a sense of relief came over her – one that all explorers get once they’ve established no presence in the building beside yourselves.

But the feeling was short-lived.

A scurrying sound came from the ceiling space. Her heart jolted. And then, as if from thin air, a young woman’s voice demanded: “Get Out!”

She jumped out of her skin in fright.

Fearing for her life she ran down the stairs and out the back door.

Her girlfriend explained that a young teenage girl had died in the house. The girl’s parents had lived out their days and are now buried in the nearby cemetery. Sometimes the apparition of the young girl can be seen looking out from the window over to her parents, hoping they’ll finally come home…