The Belmont Hotel first opened in the rural community of Thomastown around 1859. At first it catered mainly for locals and passing trade but between 1865 and 1867 it became the headquarters for the Epping District Roads Board. The Epping District Roads Board was one of the earliest forms of local government in Victoria and stretched from the southern border of Northcote up to Whittlesea.
Under publican Peter McCoy the Belmont Hotel was to prosper. When the original weatherboard hotel burnt down, McCoy was able to replace it with a substantial two storey brick building. Horse racing was to prove a valuable sideline for McCoy during the 1890s bringing welcome additional income to the small community. The success of McCoy and the Belmont Hotel can be drawn from the five terms McCoy served as the Shire President of Epping.
The hotel appears to have been rebuilt several times, possibly including changing locations. By the 1960s it had settled at 99 High Street, Thomastown where it was to remain until its closure and demolition in the 1990s. The site of the hotel is now part of the Western Ring Road.
(article by Gary Edge)
Sources
* Cole, Robert K. Index of Hotels 1841 – 1949. (Manuscript)
* Darebin Libraries. Local History File: Hotels.
* Edge, Gary. Surviving the six o’clock swill: a history of Darebin’s hotels. Melbourne. Darebin Libraries. 2004.
