The good people of Morven have a reason to smile again with a clutch of locals opening a local pub – four years after the town’s original and only pub burned to the ground.
Popular watering hole the Morven Hotel was destroyed by fire in 2016, leaving the town without a pub and no soul.
In 1859 part of the sprawling Victoria Downs property was set aside for public use, later becoming known as ‘Sadlier’s Waterhole’ after Captain TJ Sadlier and his wife camped there. A post office was opened in 1876 and the town was officially given the name Morven.
Knowing the need to restore Morven’s community hub, eight couples banded together to build a new pub on the site of the former Hotel.
The team combined their collective skills in building, plumbing and electrical, while also enlisting the help of the wider community of 199 local residents, resulting in working bees painting, constructing fences and laying turf.
The proud result is Sadleir’s Waterhole – a modern, single-storey building skirted by a generous, typically Queensland deck on two sides.
Louise Winten and husband David are one of the eight couples behind Sadleir’s, telling the ABC the new hotel will be more than just a place to drink for the people of Morven, and how they believed in its benefit and potential.
“We sort of thought, well, if we all pool our funds and pool our skills, we can probably do this.
“I just really think it’s going to be such a great community gathering place again.”
Residents of Morven have reportedly felt a disconnection since the fire took the pub, and its return is essential to the town according to Annabelle Brayley, who has lived in the area for two decades.
“All communities need to have a central, neutral meeting place where people can come and go.”
