Thames (NZ): A trip to Puriri Hotel

A friend was checking Thames Hospital Board minutes, at archives and came across this wonderful photo of the Puriri Hotel. Quite a traffic jam for the small farming township!

In the book, "Puriri a History of the school and district" it is thought that the first hotel was built about 1870 by Mr Say. That it was located nearer the Puriri Creek than the present hotel. Then a larger new hotel was built about 1881 in the Puriri township. This photo appears in the book and is labelled as c1900. The coaches would stop, and horses changed or rested. The proprietress at this time was Mrs Laycock.