At #5 Lydiard St. North, the 1863 National Bank was just north of the ANZ Bank that you saw along Sturt Street (and if not, go check that page out after this, first link at bottom). Just next to it, #9 Lydiard was built first in 1860, and then #13-15 Lydiard, the Bank of New South Wales (that's 3 banks in 4 buildings), was built in 1862.


I like when buildings make it easy for me. This one was used for trading mining shares during the Australian Gold Rush. Hence the gilded trim, I suppose.


The George Hotel was built on the west side of the street in 1854. The Old Colonists' Hall was built across the street in 1901, but clearly with mimicry in mind. It is one of two old gentlemen's clubs remaining in Ballarat, founded in 1861 during a reunion of former gold miners.


The Alexandria Tea Rooms started out in 1875 as another similar building in style and purpose - the Commercial Club. Unlike the Old Colonists' Club, this one no longer exists, though neither do the tea rooms.


I thought this would have been yet another bank, but no, it has been a Fine Art Gallery since its construction in 1887. Come on, doesn't the entrance sign look glued on?


The Regent may be the oldest interesting building in Ballarat, dating to 1928.


The first 4 photos belong to the first of Bones' Buildings (1886). Bones knew to put in the plural, as he soon built the 1888 building next to it.


J.J. Coller (1855) occupied the next building down from Bones. Meanwhile, the 1887 Palace Hotel occupies the west side of the street at the corner of Mair Street. I see it described as a "huge 40-room hotel," which tells you how small hotels were then. (The pub part may have been huge. I didn't wander inside.


Continuing on the west side, the last 3 photos belong to the 1913 Ludbrook House.


Ever since I captioned my first coffee palace in Sydney, the concept of a non-alcoholic hotel (which includes a pub by default in Australia) has intrigued me. I'm very happy to have found a second one, Reid's Coffee Palace, founded in 1886 right here in Ballarat. I left the "CE." of "palace" in the 2nd photo for proof.


This 1909 building is on the northwest tip of Lydiard Street's downtown, right by the railway. Back then, it was fashionable to live or stay along a railway.


Looking back through the northern half of downtown, back to the post office and median gas lamp at Sturt Street that I featured on the southern page (see big link below). In the foreground, you can see gates across the railway. That is a very rare relic of the first type of railway gate. Instead of coming down across the road and preserving the rail's right-of-way, the gates shut the railway until a train approaches. They must then be manually opened across the road to close the latter and open the way for the train. It's a neat concept that has clearly outlived its time, but deserves to be preserved somewhere like Ballarat amongst all these 150-year old buildings.


The Seymour Hotel is a block of north of downtown (as defined by the railway track) in the Soldiers Hill district, but I'm counting it because it's of the same age (1857) and appearance. It even comes with its own hitching post!

Head back south through downtown
Back to Ballarat main page

Back to Victoria Non-Roads
Back to Non-Roads main page