George Smith's Commercial Hotel
Prior to 1920, Houlahan's built another two-storey hotel on the opposite corner of Slack-Smith and Houlahan Street (near what is now the private residence of David and Debie Jones), also facing the Railway. This was called the Commercial Hotel and was operated by Mr and Mrs George Smith, the daughter and son-in-law of William Houlahan. This hotel was listed as G Smith, Licensee in Wise's 1915 Post Office directory, but by 1920, it was no longer listed. Roy Burrell appears as the Licensee of the Commercial Hotel, so he may have leased the premises. This hotel also met the same fate and was demolished by fire in 1922. The old hotel cellar today still remains buried in the Jones' yard. The story is told that at the Coroner's Inquiry, the Coroner inquired of George Smith regarding the time that the fire started. The dry reply was reputed to be " Usual time -- about 3.00 am"