Elizabeth Moir Hides was the widow of George Parker Hides, who opened the original Cairns Hotel on Lake Street in 1885 with fellow publican Duncan McColl. After George died in 1895, Elizabeth kept the hotel licence for many years, bought the hotel site in 1899 and, in 1900–01, bought the corner block at Lake and Shields Streets where today’s heritage-listed Hides Hotel stands.
Elizabeth Hides and Hides Hotel: key dates
- 1885: the Cairns Hotel is built on Lake Street for publicans George Parker Hides and Duncan McColl, by Townsville contractors Hinton and Co. Cairns is proclaimed a municipality the same year
- Mid-1888: the licence, first held by McColl, is transferred to Hides
- 1895: George Parker Hides dies; Elizabeth keeps the licence
- 1899: Elizabeth buys the hotel site from its landowner, Dr Edward Albert Koch. The hotel has grown to 32 bedrooms
- 1900–01: she buys the adjoining corner allotment at Lake and Shields Streets
- 1925: both sites are transferred to O’Hara Limited
- 16 May 1928: Denis O’Hara Junior lays the foundation stone of the new Hides’ Cairns Hotel
- c. 1936: a second stage completes the Shields Street frontage
- 21 October 1992: Hides Hotel is entered in the Queensland Heritage Register (place 600382)
Was Elizabeth Hides a real person?
Yes. Elizabeth Moir Hides was directly connected to the early story of Hides Hotel in Cairns and played a vital role in carrying the hotel forward after the death of her husband, George Parker Hides, in 1895. She was not simply a name on a building. She was an active businesswoman who secured the hotel’s future at a critical moment in Cairns history.
Today, Hides Hotel remains one of the most recognisable heritage-listed hotels in the Cairns CBD. Its story stretches back to 1885, making it one of the city’s longest-running hospitality stories, not just another old building with a good façade.
Who was Elizabeth Hides?
Elizabeth Moir Hides was the widow of George Parker Hides, one of the founding publicans of the original Cairns Hotel on Lake Street. When George died in 1895, Elizabeth retained the hotel licence and remained at the centre of the business that carried the Hides name.
That matters because she was not simply related to the story by surname. She was directly and practically connected to the hotel’s continuity at a time when Cairns was still a young and growing town, one that had only been proclaimed a municipality in 1885, the same year the first hotel was built.
Her licence and land purchases are part of the history recorded for the site in the Queensland Heritage Register.
What is the connection between Elizabeth Hides and Hides Hotel Cairns?
Elizabeth Hides did not simply hold on to what her husband had built. She expanded it.
Following George’s death, she kept the Cairns Hotel licence for many years. In 1899 she bought the original hotel site outright from its landowner, Dr Edward Albert Koch, who had leased it to Hides and McColl. Then, in 1900–01, she acquired the adjoining corner allotment at Lake and Shields Streets: the very land on which the present Hides Hotel now stands.
A single-storeyed timber shop on that corner was demolished and replaced by the hotel garden. In practical terms, Elizabeth Hides assembled the land that made the hotel’s future possible. Both sites were transferred to O’Hara Limited in 1925, setting the stage for the heritage-listed building guests see today.
When did the Hides Hotel story begin?
The story begins in 1885, when the original Cairns Hotel was built on Lake Street for publicans George Parker Hides and Duncan McColl by Townsville contractors Hinton and Co. McColl held the first licence for the hotel, which was transferred to Hides in mid-1888.
The original hotel, a substantial 20-bedroom, two-storeyed timber building with double front verandahs and an observation tower, quickly became central to public and commercial life in Cairns. In November 1885, meetings were held there to set up a Cairns School of Arts and a Masonic Lodge. On 13 May 1886, the Cairns Chamber of Commerce held its first meeting at the hotel. By 1899 the accommodation had grown to 32 bedrooms, a sign of how established it had become.
With the Cairns Hotel, Hides and McColl also pioneered Lake Street as a commercial address, a legacy that endures today.
Is the current Hides Hotel the original building?
No. The current heritage-listed Hides Hotel is not the 1885 building.
The foundation stone of the new Hides’ Cairns Hotel was laid by Denis O’Hara Junior on 16 May 1928. The building was designed by Cairns architect Sydenham Stanley Oxenham and built by Toowoomba and Cairns contractor Michael Thomas Garvey, using local North Queensland timbers throughout. At the time, it was one of the largest buildings in Cairns and one of only two three-storeyed structures in the city. A second stage, completed around 1936, finished the Shields Street frontage. The original 1885 timber hotel next door was demolished in the late 1960s and replaced with a modern wing, which isn’t part of the heritage listing.
The building was entered in the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992. While the structure guests see today belongs to a later chapter of the story, it is a genuine continuation: built on land that Elizabeth Hides assembled, within a hospitality tradition that began in 1885.
Why is Hides Hotel important in Cairns history?
The Queensland Heritage Register describes the 1928–c.1936 building as a substantial, first-class, three-storeyed interwar hotel that shows how Cairns grew into the principal city of far North Queensland between the wars. It still has its wide timber verandahs, original lift, timber staircase and a section of herringbone parquet floor, and it has worked as a hotel ever since it was built.
Its story ties together early publicans, pioneering land development on Lake Street, changing ownership and the later construction of the heritage building that still anchors the corner of Lake and Shields Streets. During World War II the building housed visiting Australian and US officers, and General Douglas MacArthur is said to have stayed overnight on a visit to Cairns; the top-corner room is still known as the MacArthur Suite. That’s what makes Hides a living part of Cairns: not just an old building, but a thread that runs through the city’s modern history.
Why does the name Elizabeth Hides still matter today?
Elizabeth Hides adds something genuine to the Hides Hotel story. She represents continuity and practical resilience: a woman who, in the 1890s and early 1900s, held a hotel licence, bought land and secured a future for a business in a frontier town that was still finding its feet.
That makes her name especially meaningful for Hides Hotel today. It links the hotel’s identity to a real person who helped shape its path, rather than to a vague legend or invented backstory. For a heritage hotel in the centre of Cairns, that kind of authenticity matters, and it’s the kind of history no amount of rebranding can manufacture.
Can you still stay at Hides Hotel?
Yes. Hides Hotel is still a working hotel at 87 Lake Street, on the corner of Shields Street, in the Cairns CBD: under 5 minutes’ walk from the Esplanade Lagoon and under 10 from the Reef Fleet Terminal. Its story runs from the original 1885 Cairns Hotel built for George Parker Hides and Duncan McColl, to Elizabeth Hides’ land purchases after 1895, to the heritage-listed building that has stood on the corner since 1928.
Choose from heritage rooms in the 1928 building, premium rooms with private ensuites, or longer stay accommodation in the heart of Cairns. It’s a place to sleep that’s tied to the story of the city itself.
Frequently asked questions
Was Elizabeth Hides a real person?
Yes. Elizabeth Moir Hides was the widow of publican George Parker Hides. After he died in 1895 she kept the Cairns Hotel licence for many years, bought the hotel site in 1899 and bought the corner of Lake and Shields Streets in 1900–01, where Hides Hotel stands today.
When was Hides Hotel established?
The original Cairns Hotel was built on Lake Street in 1885 for publicans George Parker Hides and Duncan McColl. The current building dates from 1928 and was extended around 1936.
Is the current Hides Hotel the original 1885 building?
No. Today’s three-storey building was started in 1928 on the corner block Elizabeth Hides bought in 1900–01. The original 1885 timber hotel was later demolished.
Is Hides Hotel heritage listed?
Yes. Hides Hotel was entered in the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992 as place 600382.
Who designed the current Hides Hotel?
Cairns architect Sydenham Stanley Oxenham designed it, and contractor Michael Thomas Garvey built it. The foundation stone was laid on 16 May 1928.
Can you still stay at Hides Hotel?
Yes. Hides Hotel is a working hotel at 87 Lake Street in the Cairns CBD, with heritage rooms, premium rooms and long-stay accommodation.
