The History of The Ship Inn

Beginning construction in 1864 and opening in April 1865, The Ship Inn has had a colourful history.

Originally known as the ‘New Bowen Hotel’, the hotel changed its name in 1866 to the ‘Railway Hotel’ in anticipation of the arrival of the rail line from Ipswich. Initially the wharf opposite the hotel was busy as much cotton was being exported to America due to the American Civil War. However, soon the hotel fell upon hard times and Daniel Donivan abandoned the hotel on 18th April 1867.

The hotel acted as a boarding house under the name ‘Acton House’ before regaining its licence in 1879 and changing its name to The Ship Inn which it has been known as ever since. The dry dock opposite The Ship Inn was constructed and the railway arrived in the late 1870s. With horse-drawn trams (1885), reticulated gas for lighting (1886), reticulated water (1888) and finally electric lighting (1919) following. In 1938, the Queensland Government began to transfer overseas shipping facilities from South Brisbane to Newstead and Hamilton as the proposed Story Bridge was too low for shipping of the time.

During WWII, The Ship Inn experienced strong patronage with American troops based at Somerville House and St Laurence’s and was popular with African American troops who were forbidden from socialising outside of South Brisbane. The dry dock worked nonstop on damaged Allied ships and submarines. However, in the early 1970s, the dry dock closed, and the trams ceased operations. The clientele changed for the worse and the hotel was closed on 11th April 1979 due to numerous breaches of the Liquor Licensing legislation.

In 1988, The Ship Inn showed off to the world at Expo. Enjoying spectacular trade, the hotel again closed at the completion of Expo before reopening in 1992. The hotel was purchased by Griffith University in 2000. The property was removed from the national heritage register in 1993 due to the renovations carried out for Expo, however, the university with its strong social conscience, retained the northern part of the building and a long term lease was taken by the current owners in 2004 who redeveloped the property to its current glory.

The Ship Inn now stands as a South Bank icon, known for its rich heritage and quality pub meals.