The first licensee of the Myrtle Hotel was John Page in 1854.
Page reportedly gave prize money that had been donated by Governor Sir Charles
Hotham to race winners in October 1855, in an attempt to lure them away from
John O’Brien’s Queen’s Arms Hotel. Architect Alfred Louis Smith designed
additions to the hotel in 1859. In 1883, architects Wilson and Beswicke designed
further brick additions. The Myrtle was a popular meeting spot for societies and
clubs before being displaced by the Golden Gate, the Myrtle was de-licensed on
31 December 1920.
