Royal Mail Hotel

Hungerford’s Royal Mail Hotel is an iconic outback pub and popular rest stop for travellers, stockmen and locals alike. It is located on the Queensland-New South Wales border, and is equidistant from Cunnamulla in Queensland and Bourke in New South Wales. Hungerford began as a customs post on an important stock route connecting Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. When the hotel was built and licensed in 1874, Queensland’s border had not officially been surveyed and the hotel was thought to be in New South Wales. The licence was issued in NSW to John Cooke, who became post master in 1875. The 1879-80 survey of Hungerford revealed that the hotel was in Queensland and subsequent licences were issued in Queensland. By 1882, the hotel was a coach stop along the Cobb & Co coach service running between Hungerford, Eulo and Thargomindah. In 1892, poet Henry Lawson visited the hotel, writing a short story titled ‘Hungerford’, published in the prose collection, ‘While the Billy Boils’ in 1896. Hungerford declined following Federation, when customs posts became redundant. The hotel operated throughout the 20th century. In 2016, the Royal Mail Hotel continues to provide hospitality for visitors to Currawinya National Park.