johnoxleylibary

In 1926 the Mount Isa Hotel was built by Samuel Allen. A team of tradesmen started construction on the corner of Miles and Marian Streets. It included coffee and dining rooms, saloon bar, lounge, and billiard room on the ground floor, with twenty-three bedrooms with balconies upstairs, stables and a garage at the rear. Mr. H. Smith accepted the position of manager of the new Mount Isa hotel. The hotel license was granted on Wednesday 26th September 1926, and the hotel opened on that day. Locally it was known as the ‘Top Pub”, “Smith’s Pub” and later ‘The Isa”. The Public Bar was boasted as Australia’s longest bar, it later became Australia’s second longest bar. Apparently Kalgoorlie held the record, so they increased the length of their bar by a few inches to regain their record. The bull ring at the Mount Isa Hotel, a square wooden floor area located just off the saloon bar where many arguments were settled with flying fists, resembled a boxing ring, although its primary purpose was to provide ventilation in the centre of the big hotel building. It had long wooden seats for patrons not wishing to sit at the crowded bar. These popular events often required having to book ahead for the tournament.

At the back is a 2 room lockup. Left to right is the Mount Isa Police Station/Courthouse and the building on the right is the sergeant's residence. A new courthouse was built around 1935. On the extreme right there is a small portion of the roff of the constable's quarters a small 10 foot by 8 ft single room.

Early 1935 for two reasons, there is water in the river and Mines Power Station has only two stacks and additional boiler and turbine was added throughout 1935. To the right the spray ponds are in use. This was hot water returned from the steam condensers on the e exhaust side of the turbine. The condensing of the steam creates a lower pressure and increases the flow through the turbine creating a much higher efficiency. This hot water is sprayed in the air to cool it and then repeat the cycle. These were replaced by Marley Cooling Towers which were more efficient. The water vapour from Marley Cooling Towers is commonly used by media when reference is being made to emissions from power stations.