The fabled Eulo Queen Hotel, with its saucy history of a serial widow with an obsession for opals, is for sale as cornerstone of a broader business in the historic outback town.
Eulo was named as a settlement on the Paroo River in 1872. A jaunty 850 kilometres west of Brisbane, the town became known for its opals. A post office opened the same year, with the first postmaster the local publican, William Shearer.
In 1886 the Eulo Hotel was established, first operated by Isabel Gray and her latest husband, Richard William Robinson, who she had married in 1871. Born in England, Gray immigrated to Australia in 1868. The Robinsons went on to establish a butcher shop and store on the site.
According to legend, Gray had quite the fascination with opals, said to have “adorned herself lavishly from head to toe” in the precious stones.
This became the origins of the legend of the Eulo Queen, subsequently earning the moniker of the hotel, as Gray was said to have accepted the gems as currency in exchange for other services, conducting business not within the boundaries of the hotel, and “beguiling her guests in other ways”.
It’s said her bedroom was a “scene of great activity” as she fraternised with travellers in exchange for opals, seemingly indifferent to her complaisant husband.
Gray was 53 when her second husband passed away, in 1903, but she married again, a man from Tasmania aged 29.
What became of this union is speculation, but Gray passed away in Toowoomba’s Willowburn Mental Hospital in 1929 nearly penniless, having lived for years on a widow’s pension.
The present day Eulo Queen was built in 1954, occupying a 8,100sqm lot. Beyond the memorabilia-lined public bar, a recently renovated kitchen caters for a 30-seat bistro and beer garden, featuring a new 80-seat solid replica woolshed, complete with original timbers and a 1950s wool press.
There is also a convenience store, open every day and servicing the town and passing trade.
Behind the Hotel is the camp grounds, equipped with an assortment of 15 rooms, as well as powered and unpowered drive-through sites and range of tent sites.
Eulo is a part of the Natural Science Loop, and while local population counts only 100 people, literature says there is “plenty to do and see in town” and tourism is a staple. Visitors are drawn to the likes of the hot artesian mud bath, or the 250-year-old heritage-listed Dig Tree at Coopers Creek, birdwatching 226 species in Currawinya, and the Mulga Country Music Festival.
Long ago, Eulo was even selected to have an air-raid shelter, being directly on the flight path from Darwin to Melbourne.
The Eulo Queen and businesses are being sold by way of Expressions of Interest, through Southern Downs Realty’s Matthew Collins.
“The Eulo Queen Hotel packs so many features already, but it also boasts an exciting future as a fantastic starter opportunity with reliable and experienced staff and room for expansion and growth.”
