GRESHAM HOTEL
| Once standing on one of the busiest corners in Adelaide, few today realise that this prominent site was home to one of South Australia's most well-known hotels the Gresham Hotel. The original building likely reused the former General Post Office, which vacated the site when it moved to 141 King William Street in 1851. The hotel’s first publican, Otto Hawkins, ran the business for four years before a rapid turnover of licensees followed over the next two decades. In 1874, Henry Reynolds transformed the modest structure, rebuilding it as a larger, two-storey hotel. A clever addition was a balcony facing Parliament House, which became a strategic location for public demonstrations. Reynolds even advertised it as the perfect vantage point for protests and public speeches. The final expansion came in 1898, when a third storey was added and the hotel's footprint enlarged, making it a dominant structure on the corner. Ironically, the hotel’s prime location eventually led to its demise. As property values soared, the land became more valuable than the hotel itself. In 1965, the Gresham Hotel was demolished to make way for the AMP Building, which now houses SEN 1629.  1960 State Library [PRG 1662/4/67] |
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| GRESHAM HOTEL | 1851 | 1965 |
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Click Below for more |
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1867
State Library [B 72470]
c1874
State Library [B 4687]
1898
State Library [PRG 631/2/1299]
c1915
State Library [B 70935/23]
c1936
State Library [B 22808]
Hotel site in 2025
Click here for a high resolution image
5.001.H253.0010
| Publican Name | Start Date | Finish Date | Hotel |
| Otto HAWKINS | 1851 | 1855 | Gresham Hotel |
| John MITCHELL | 1855 | 1856 | Gresham Hotel |
| Thomas CORNOCK | 1856 | 1863 | Gresham Hotel |
| Frederick RIDLINGTON | 1863 | 1866 | Gresham Hotel |
| Robert HALL | 1866 | 1866 | Gresham Hotel |
| Ruth HALL | 1866 | 1867 | Gresham Hotel |
| Ellen Eliza SANDER | 1867 | 1869 | Gresham Hotel |
| George DARBON | 1869 | 1870 | Gresham Hotel |
| Henry Dennett REYNOLDS | 1870 | 1876 | Gresham Hotel |
| George GATES | 1876 | 1878 | Gresham Hotel |
| John FOX | 1878 | 1879 | Gresham Hotel |
| William MILNE | 1879 | 1879 | Gresham Hotel |
| Mrs Mary FOX | 1879 | 1898 | Gresham Hotel |
| James Henry ALDRIDGE | 1898 | 1908 | Gresham Hotel |
| Charles Henry FERORS | 1908 | 1911 | Gresham Hotel |
| Mrs Augusta DELANY | 1911 | 1913 | Gresham Hotel |
| Horace Edgar DUNCAN | 1913 | 1921 | Gresham Hotel |
| Sydney KNAPMAN | 1921 | 1922 | Gresham Hotel |
| Robert E WELCHMAN | 1922 | 1926 | Gresham Hotel |
| Robert E WELCHMAN | 1926 | 1927 | Gresham Hotel |
| & Mrs Florence JA WELCHMAN | 1926 | 1927 | Gresham Hotel |
| Alexander George HILLWOOD | 1927 | 1930 | Gresham Hotel |
| Thomas Joseph PIERCE | 1930 | 1934 | Gresham Hotel |
| Thomas Joseph PIERCE | 1934 | 1938 | Gresham Hotel |
| & Leo Edward BEATTY | 1934 | 1938 | Gresham Hotel |
| John Chaston O’BRIEN | 1938 | 1940 | Gresham Hotel |
| Brian Read O’BRIEN | 1940 | 1941 | Gresham Hotel |
| Jean BROOK | 1941 | 1941 | Gresham Hotel |
| Brian Read O’BRIEN | 1941 | 1950 | Gresham Hotel |
| Jean BROOK | 1950 | 1951 | Gresham Hotel |