Port Adelaide

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.

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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.

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May 26, 2017

Urban Exploring: Hart’s Mill

Captain John Hart, Port Adelaide, 1870. — Captain John Hart 1870.

Hart’s Mill is one of the most iconic buildings of Port Adelaide and is the longest continuously serving flour mill in South Australia, operating from 1855 to 1980. It was built under the direction of John Hart, a significant colonial figure, three-time Premier and instigator to much of the development of Port Adelaide.

Hart’s Mill was the largest and most technologically advanced mill in South Australia and at the time was claimed to be the best in the southern hemisphere. It was built to create an export market for the State’s produce and successfully shipped the finest flour all over the world. “Hart’s Flour” was regarded as one of the best and commanded the highest prices in Australia.

The large building that we all know today as Hart’s Mill was the second mill built on the site in 1894.

Hart's Mill, Port Adelaide, c. 2006. — Hart’s Mill c. 2006. (Photo by Valerie Sitters)

In ~1894 the mode of power for the mill was converted from steam to electricity. A large electric motor was connected to the main driving wheel in the motor house adjacent to the mill building. The 1.5m diameter wheel transfers its power via rope belts to a system of drive-wheels, shafts and secondary wheels throughout the building.

Hart's Mill, Port Adelaide, Drive Wheel Diagram. — Hart’s Mill, Port Adelaide, Drive Wheel Diagram.

On the 14th of March 1905, the mill was destroyed by fire with the loss of everything apart from the brick walls which remained standing. All of the internal timber structure, floors, windows and roof were lost together with nearly all equipment.

Hart's Mill, Port Adelaide, 1905 Fire. — Hart’s Mill, Port Adelaide, 1905 Fire.

After an insurance payout of £10,356, the internals of the mill was reconstructed and new machinery purchased. The mill re-commenced operation in March 1906.

In 1928, a major upgrade of machinery was carried out and it was in this general form in which it operated through until its closure in 1980.

Some of the machinery still remains in the building including roller mills (1928), purifiers (1905), flower dressers (1928), arc bleachers, drive shafts, rope belts as well as a 360 HP electric motor (1928).

The scene inside the working mill is hard to visualise, but would have been similar to this mill in Howe Indiana: