Tenders were invited for the erection of a Police Barracks and Lockup at Hinton, by the Department of Public Works, Sydney on 23rd October, 1880. Mr William Dart won the contract and eventually made a start on the building in August 1881. The building contained four rooms, two cells, a kitchen and a storeroom. The [...]
The first Queens Birthday Regatta held at Hinton was in May 1882, as well as the usual sports held on Punt Road. The course on the river started at a flagship anchored off the Government Wharf at the bottom of Paterson Street. The boats would be rowed up the Paterson River then around a buoy [...]
A terrible accident occurred at Hinton Punt on a dark rainy night, the 2nd of May, 1892, involving Fry's Mail Coach. The coach left Dungog at 2.30pm for Maitland via Clarencetown and Hinton. After leaving Hinton Post Office at 8.30pm the driver moved the coach over to allow an oncoming buggy to pass. A wheel [...]
In January 1890, a meeting was held by the Hinton Progress Committee regarding a public recreation ground. A letter was sent to the District Surveyor asking him to come to Hinton and meet the Committee. When he arrived, they proceeded to Mt Pleasant to an area known as Stubbs Hill. After inspection the surveyor said [...]
In early 1883, steps were taken to establish a telegraph office in Hinton. A petition was sent to the postmaster general in March. After receiving an unfavourable answer, another letter was sent asking to reconsider. The Postmaster General’s answer was that to construct a line from Morpeth to Hinton, including a cable across the river, [...]
The Victoria Hotel we know today narrowly escaped total destruction by fire on 9 September, 1874 and owes its salvation to a young girl named “Ellen Ford”, who was engaged at the hotel as a domestic servant. The building had an attic above the two stories and the roof was slate. An old man was [...]
There was a skating craze amongst the younger members of the community in the late 1880’s. Mr William Yates built a skating rink on his land on Punt Road. The opening was in July 1889. Skating started at seven thirty in the evening with forty couples skating until eleven o’clock, stopping for supper, then dancing [...]
Hinton’s earliest Public School was on the river bank on Punt Road. Many foot races were held on the road, with other sports as well in the paddocks alongside. On the top end of Punt Road, on the corner next to where the bridge is today, was the “Australian Joint Stock Bank”. Next to the [...]
Punt Road was a very busy part of Hinton in the early days between the 1840’s and 1880’s with four hotels at the bottom of Punt Road trading during this period. At the bottom left on the riverbank was “The Port Hunter Hotel” with a name change later to “Shanes Castle” then again to “The [...]
There were a number of vineyards at Hinton in the early days and they produced a lot of good wines. Some of the winemakers won prizes overseas for their wines. Louis Armbruster had 8,000 gallons of wine for sale in February 1880. Peter Quinn had 500 gallons for sale, the product of one year from [...]