Barron Valley Hotel

This grand two storey brick hotel in the main street of Atherton is the fourth hotel built on this site. The first was a simple shack serving prospectors on the track to Herberton. As transport improved, so did the hotel and a single story structure was built in the 1890s to serve as a Cobb and Co coach stop and general store. In 1908, a new two story hotel served the town until the late 1930s when it was reportedly in very poor condition. Hotel owner Sconder Nasser commissioned Cairns architects Hill and Taylor to design a new building which was completed in 1941. It included 30 bedrooms, a billiards parlour, two bars, a lounge and dining room. This rebuilding was to prove fortuitous when in 1942, a large contingent of Australian and American soldiers were based on the Tablelands for allied training and rehabilitation. The Barron Valley Hotel served as the Australian Army Officers Club, mess hall and accommodation, and briefly provided a home to General Sir Thomas Blamey, Commander-in-Chief of the Australian Military forces. The hotel remains owned by the Nasser family and exemplifies the contribution made by Lebanese immigrants to the development of regional Queensland.