The history of the Commercial Hotel in Clermont – affectionately known as The Commie – goes back to 1877 when the licence was held by well-known publican Mr Bernard “Barney” Mullin. 

The town of Clermont, 274 kilometres south-west of Mackay at the junction of the Gregory and Peak Downs highway, was established in 1861 on the banks of Hood’s Lagoon after the discovery of gold in the region. It was the first inland European settlement in Queensland.  

In the late 1800s the hotel was a crucial community hub and a vibrant scene.  

On 21 December 1886 the Peak Downs Telegram published an advertisement for the hotel, calling it “the largest and most commodious hotel in central Queensland.” 

“The rooms are spacious and well furnished,” it reported. “The bar… will always be well stocked with wines, spirits and beers of the best brands… The coffee room is always supplied with the leading newspapers, periodicals, etc…. Water laid on all over the house… twelve-stalled stable, buggy shed with competent groom in attendance.” 

Such detail gives us fascinating insight about how the hotels of the era looked and operated, what facilities were seen as modern and appealing and who frequented them. It is tempting to imagine a Clermont local enjoying a coffee in the “coffee room” and reading the newspaper before asking the groom to prepare the horses for a buggy trip. 

Stabling facilities were crucial at this time. The Peak Downs Telegram in December 1877 noted the Commercial Hotel’s “stabling accommodation” was “second to none” and the hotel’s billiard table is set “in a large and commodious room fitted with every requisite of the game”. 

Barney Mullin was an influential person in the town, and his death in 1888, aged just 44, was felt deeply in the district. 

On 6 May, 1888, the Capricornian reported his passing, describing the publican as “one of the oldest and most prominent citizens of Clermont”.

It said: “The late Bernard Mullin occupied many important positions and was connected directly and indirectly with all our local institutions. At the time of his death, he was an alderman of this municipality and has held the position of Mayor for two consecutive terms. 

“His general liberality in all matters connected with the welfare of the district – political and social – has always been freely commented on and his loss to the community will be much felt.” 

Mullin, said the newspaper, had arrived in Clermont in 1868 and taken over the lease of The Commercial Hotel, purchasing it in 1873. “He made the hotel the leading one in Clermont.” 

The hotel at that time was the venue for all sorts of community and official functions. 

In August 1899 the hotel hosted a committee meeting of the Peak Downs Turf Club. In November that year hosted a visit to Clermont by various political luminaries who, according to the Capricornian of 30 November 1889, were “met at the railway station by the Mayor and several of the aldermen….  who escorted them to the Commercial Hotel where a substantial breakfast was provided”. 

In the 1890s the hotel was taken over by Fred Comley, a well-liked local identity. Aside from running the pub, Comley catered for various social events, including a fancy dress ball at the Town Hall. According to The Capricornian in 23 December 1893, “Mr Fred Comley had the contract for providing the refreshments and other delicacies usually on such occasions, which is a sufficient guarantee the arrangement will be of a first-class order.” Comley also supplied “a luncheon” to Clermont’s Cricket Club for a match at the “Association grounds”. 

Fred Comley had a strong sense of community engagement, as reported by The Capricornian on 28 March 1896. Comley mounted a large board on a verandah post with a large “lamp placed in front so all could see what was upon it”. 

The board had the names of the 21 electorates being polled for members of the Legislative Assembly on that day. “Comley had previously arranged that the telegraph office should be kept open so that the news of the polling should be immediately forwarded,” the report said. The votes for each candidate were recorded on the board.

It was an exciting event for the township and demonstrates the level of community engagement in the town at the time. 

“The Salvation Army and their band, which had taken up their position in front of the hotel… were compelled to beat a hasty retreat, owing to the large crowd of persons… who had assembled and who so lustily cheered as their favourite member came into view.” 

Meetings were held at the Commercial Hotel to push local initiatives. In 1899 the hotel hosted a “meeting of townspeople” to “further the movement for establishing a fire brigade”.  

Occasionally, the hotel made the news for other reasons. On 1 April 1899 The Capricornian reported a case in the Police Court involving “the prosecution of J.R. Beaumont, groom at the Commercial Hotel, for swimming horses in the lagoon.” A warning was issued “directed against persons polluting the lagoon water.” 

Clermont was originally established on low-lying ground next to a lagoon or billabong, but flooding was always a problem, with the town enduring four major floods between 1864 and 1916. 

In 1916, the town was hit with a tragedy that became known as “The Big Flood”. Sixty-five lives were lost from a population of 1500. 

On 10 January 1917, the Northern Star published a description of the flood, taken from the Brisbane Courier. 

“Now came the catastrophe which many of the older residents feared would occur when both creeks came down together. By half past six the water had just got over the level of the 1893 and 1896 floods, and from that time disasters fell with almost unimaginable rapidity on residents and property in the low-lying parts of the town… 

“As example of the fearfully rapid rise the groom of the Commercial Hotel walked to the butcher’s shop for meat but the water stopped his return.” 

After the floodwaters subsided the decision was made to move the few surviving hotels and stores to higher ground. Many of the wooden buildings of the town were moved using steam traction engines to a new town site on higher ground. 

The lower part of the town was never rebuilt, and the settlement was shifted to higher ground, which led to Clermont being often referred to as The Town that Moved or The Shifting Town. 

The buildings – including hotels and houses – were moved using a steam engine. The Commercial Hotel, being so large and built in an ‘L’ shape plan, was sawn in half and moved in two sections. 

But to its great credit, service at The Commercial Hotel was not greatly interrupted. While the hotel was being moved guests ate in the dining room as usual and slept in their rooms each night. 

A local amateur photographer George Pullar took many photographs of the buildings being moved. Many of these extraordinary images survived the floods and stand testament to the devastation in the town. The photographs were published in the 1980s as “A Shifting Town”. 

The Clermont Historical Centre today displays the Aveling and Porter steam engine which was used to shift the town buildings. 

Only a few of the buildings that were moved still stand in Clermont today, among those the Commercial Hotel. 

The hotel today features photographs on its walls of the hotel being moved. 

The Commercial Hotel has had several iterations over the years. A new hotel by the same name was constructed in 1938. On 4 October 1946 a report in the Morning Bulletin referred to a fire. “As it is over three years since fire destroyed the previous building, it is considered that a building more in keeping with the town should be erected at this site.”

Today, with its undercover beer garden, grassed area and welcoming atmosphere inside. The Commercial Hotel remains a popular local gathering place. and it will always be proud of its extraordinary history as a pioneer in one of the most historic towns in northern Australia.