Dick's Hotel

Dick's Hotel was built in 1872 on the corner of Beattie and Montague Streets Balmain, an inner-west suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Built by John Dick, local publican of note, it was known as Lean's Hotel from 1886 to 1898 when owned by Jabez Lean, but reverted to its former name after and has remained as such since.

Associated with the political movements of the late nineteenth century, especially the growing labour movement, it was also the scene for farewells to contingents from NSW to the Boxer Rebellion and the Boer War. The hotel did not suffer unduly from Darling Street overtaking Beattie Street as the main thoroughfare of the suburb with the introduction of tramways, but rather grew through its rivalry with the three-story Exchange Hotel opposite, built 1886.

Both hotels enjoy a lively competition to this day.

References

• Davidson, B; Hamey, K; Nicholls, D; Called To The Bar - 150 Years of pubs in Balmain & Rozelle, The Balmain Association, 1991, ISBN 0-9599502-6-5.