Back when Kalgoorlie was known as 'Hannan's' (est. population 1,000), before we had a police station or post office, there were two hotels in town. One was called 'the Club', and no longer exists; and the other was the Exchange Hotel.

In those days, the value of land in Kalgoorlie was quite low--the Exchange Hotel lot of land, along with an adjoining lot were bought for only £50 in 1893. The Exchange was run by Mrs. Egan, who was known for her good cooking amongst the miners, most of whom didn't have wives here to cook them their meals.

In 1896 the Exchange Hotel was sold by Mr. Rosenthal to Mr. Brownlow for £10,000.

Lack of water in the Goldfields made fires doubly dangerous, so Mr. Brownlow decided to build a water tower next to the hotel. He had his staff trained in firefighting, and it was a good thing he did, because in 1897, Captain Davis, manager of the Bank of England Mine, fell asleep while smoking and the building caught fire. Luckily, the staff and local fire brigade had the flames out in no time. Although Captain Davis suffered severe burns, a much greater catastrophe was avoided by having water close at hand.

Since the Exchange Hotel has been built, it has undergone rebuilding, expansions, and refurbishments. The original building, which had one story, was replaced by the current style in 1900.