A brief overview of the beginnings of the Royal Hotel
On December 2, 1873 Mat McCabe opened the Royal Hotel on the corner of Heber and Auburn Streets.
Moree’s newest publican, resplendent in coat and tails, hosted a public dinner and evening ball amid much to-do and fanfare.
“The dinner was served in excellent style and is a foretaste of good things to come. The ball was largely attended,” reported the Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser.
In the late 1870s John Cameron, later to become Moree’s first mayor, took over the Royal Hotel and in 1879 he and Criterion Hotel licensee Alf Kirkby organised a race meeting to coincide with the birthday of the Prince of Wales.