The second Prince Alfred Hotel (Halfway House), burned down in 1894. The present pub boasts the area’s longest continuous liquor license since 1867.

Prince Alfred, Queen Victoria’s second son was enthusiastically received
as the first English prince to visit Australia in 1868.

Fittingly, the original Prince Alfred Hotel was opened in ‘Gootchie Creek’
in 1868, by Charles Henry Scarrott. It was a ‘Wayside Inn’ halfway between Maryborough and Gympie on the coach route and ‘future Gootchie Terminus of the Railway’. Scarrott had 350 acres of property at his retirement in 1878. The liquor licence transferred in 1878 to Robert Whannel, and 1879 to Robert Woodward, and then to Mary Scarrott on Charles‘ death, in 1882.
The new Prince Alfred Hotel was built at ‘Gootchie’ in 1883 adjacent to the new Gundiah Railway Station (opened 1882). In an article about the new Dalkeith Sawmill, Jan 17, 1883, it states it was being “erected on the site which Scarrott's Hotel was rendered famous during the last 16 years, abutting on the railway line and close to Gundiah (Gootchie) Creek...Quite the village of cottages will be erected... and arrangements are being made for the early establishment of a store, butcher and baker and the inevitable hotel on sites adjacent to the Mill.” (The brick furnace remains of the Sawmill and the Scarrott gravesite are on the Tiddy property south of the pub, 232 Netherby Road. See ‘Down Memory Lane’.)

The Prince Alfred Hotel saw the licence change hands on average every 3years until Benedict Bauer, around 1891.
Wide Bay News, 8 Jan 1894: “On Saturday morning early, the well known Halfway House Hotel, at the Gundiah station, was burned to the ground. It was a large building, with detached kitchen and outbuildings, none of which were saved. The origin of the fire is a mystery and likely to remain so.” The new, new Prince Alfred Hotel was in construction 1895, and license granted to Benedict Bauer, owner. He died 1904, transferring licence and estate to 2nd wife, Bertha. It seems she may have owned it until 1932 when the owner is listed as Henry Bell.
From local history, the pub was just the present east wing with verandah facing the Gundiah Hall (c.1922), and small bar in the front (northern) room, until extensions about 1956 to the present style facing the road. If you have further information regarding Pub, please contact sandi@g-h2o.com.