'An ornament to the town'
We covered the A & P Show last month. This prompted a look at where the out-of-town visitors, exhibitors and judges stayed while in Hamilton. Well, they stayed in hostelries like this one. Opened early in March 1902, this investment by L T Evans was, the Waikato Times stated, ‘evidence of his faith in the prosperity of Hamilton’. It was virtually opposite the Victoria St entrance to the railway station and, described by the editor of the Waikato Times, still waxing lyrical, ‘decidedly an ornament to the town’. It had 23 ‘lofty’ rooms affording every comfort to the traveller. The bread-and-butter business for such establishments was permanent boarders who no doubt had the lesser class of rooms. Among the many opportunities were, ‘dinner on [livestock] sale days for 1/-‘ (ten cents) and ‘hot & cold baths’. Sheer luxury.
