Addresses
Type of place
Hotel (pub)
Period
Victorian 1860-1890
Style
Filigree
This is an image of the local heritage place known as Pineapple Hotel
Pineapple Hotel
Addresses
Type of place
Hotel (pub)
Period
Victorian 1860-1890
Style
Filigree
The Pineapple Hotel was opened in 1864 in a wooden house on a large site fronting the main Ipswich Road (now Main Street) at Kangaroo Point, near the One-Mile Swamp. The original house was replaced by the current building in 1886-7, designed by eminent Brisbane architects John Hall and Sons. Additions and alterations were undertaken in the late 1920s, designed by G.H.M. Addison and Son. This two-storey hotel reflects the confidence of the 1880s economic boom in Brisbane, as well as the increasing development of Kangaroo Point in the late nineteenth century. It occupies a prominent position on Main Street and has continued to provide hospitality to the local community throughout the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Also known as
Palmer's Hotel
Lot plan
Key dates
Local Heritage Place Since —
Date of Information —
People/associations
George Henry Male Addison - Additions and Alterations (Architect);John Hall and Son (Architect)
Interactive mapping
Also known as
Palmer's Hotel
Lot plan
Key dates
Local Heritage Place Since —
Date of Information —
People/associations
George Henry Male Addison - Additions and Alterations (Architect);John Hall and Son (Architect)
Interactive mapping
History
Originally granted by Deed of Grant dated 15 May 1855, the 37 perch block on which the Pineapple Hotel now stands was once part of a far larger 38 acres property, granted to James Brown Orr under the Seal of the Colony of New South Wales. The Baines family purchased 7 acres and 38 perches of the site in 1863 and owned it until 1921. The hotel fronted Main Street (or the Ipswich Road as it was once called), while the rest of the land was known as the ‘Pineapple grounds’, and was used by sports teams.
The first Pineapple Hotel opened in 1864, after a general publican’s license was granted to Thomas McCarthy for the Pineapple Hotel, situated on the Ipswich Road from Kangaroo Point. Kangaroo Point had been established early in Brisbane’s history, and rival hotels had already been established from around 1846. McCarthy’s hotel was to contain three sitting rooms and six bedrooms, in addition to those required by his family. The name ‘pineapple’ is a reference to the agricultural land of nearby Raymond Park, formerly a pineapple plantation.
The license passed through various proprietors over subsequent years. Following complaints about the conditions of the wooden building which had been the hotel, the new Pineapple Hotel was constructed 1886-7. Architects John Hall and Sons called for tenders in 1886 and H. Durston won the contract at £2935 and £285 for bar fittings.
For part of its history, the Pineapple was known as ‘Palmers’ after Patrick Palmer, who purchased it in 1921. Some time after his death in 1930 the name reverted to the ‘Pineapple’. During Palmer’s ownership a number of additions and alterations were effected, including the balconies and other work, by G.H.M. Addison and Son. In February 1925 a complete remodelling of the interior was completed, along with the addition of a 21ft wide verandah on both sides of the building. A photograph from the John Oxley Library depicts the hotel with verandahs, but is dated 1913 (the 1925 article could be referring to ground level). These were not the only changes: photographs taken in 1971 and later show marked changes from that taken in 1913. The hotel has also undergone a number of alterations in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century.
prepared by — Brisbane City Council (page revised March 2023)