Buffalo Club
 | |
| Streets: | |
|---|---|
| Wikidata: | Q66975226 |
| inHerit: | 24832 |
[1] | |
The Fremantle Buffalo Club is at 54 High Street, on Town Lot 105, and was opened in 1938. It's name comes from the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes, who still meet there but who have not been the main organisation behind the club since .
Ron Davidson describes: '... a slightly rusty building in High Street with a facade which Fremantle wits call art deco revival. That means green tiles and a buffalo skull set into the stucco wall.' (The Clubs, 2010: 99)
The building is on what was the original 1833 town lot no. 105 which was granted to G.F. Johnson. It is now lot 500.
Before it was the Buffalo Club, the building was used as the Madrid Restaurant, owned by the Andinach Brothers, who ran the Madrid Fruit Palace at the same address.
On lot 105 in 1830, Robert Thomson was operating one of the first four pubs in the colony, the Stirling Arms.
In 1941, alterations were carried out by Allen & Nicholas.[1] The limestone wall between the main bar and the shop at number 60 was removed as part of renovations overseen in 1986 by Michael Broderick & Partners.[1]
Photo of the Madrid Restaurant no. E0000047-01 from Fremantle City Library Local History Collection.
Group of people outside the Madrid Restaurant and Madrid Fruit Palace. L-R two employees, Uncle Anthony, Francis and Josefa Andinach, Uncle Paul, employee. The building was bought by the Fremantle Buffalo Club Inc. during the 1938/9 period. In 2015/2023, No. 54 is still the Fremantle Buffalo Club.
The photo was also put in Facebook (by the Library) where Carolyn Cavana wrote the personal part of the above caption.
In June 2021, the building has had its disgusting awnings removed, tho the facade has not been made good. One can only hope that some hero will restore the Madrid verandahs, tho there are hardly any verandahs left in High Street. Here's the building with mouldy awnings, from my snap of c. 2017?
In 2024 the club was a non-profit association with an open membership. The committee was:[2]
- Neil Porter
- Greg Patterson
- Raymond Grenfell
- Anna Farrant
- John Fox
- Michael Sheehy
- Zane Wayman
The Club Constitution.
The club was a finalist in the Chamber of Commerce's 2024 Business Awards, in the Community Organisation category (along with Expression Australia; St Patrick's Community Support Centre; Domestic Abuse Resource and Training Institute aka DART; Fremantle Foundation; Stephen Michael Foundation; Freocast Radio; The Hospital Foundation Group aka Spinnaker; Leeuwin Ocean Adventure Foundation; Business Foundations; Portcare; Imagined Futures; and Freo Street Doctor aka Black Swan Health).[3]
Gallery
-
2016: Entrance.
-
2024: Upstairs social hall.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 State Heritage Office, place number 24832.
- ↑ Committee @ The Buff, accessed 9 September 2024
- ↑ Fremantle Business Awards Finalists 2024, 16 September 2024.
Hitchcock, J.K. 1929, The History of Fremantle, The Front Gate of Australia 1829-1929, Fremantle City Council.
Parker, David Dare & Ron Davidson 2010, The Clubs, FotoFreo, Fremantle.
Page for Josephina Andinach on streetsoffreo.com.au.
Streetsoffreo.com.au page for the Buffalo Club and Madrid Restaurant.
Links
This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 1 October, 2014 and hosted at freotopia.org/clubs/buffalo.html (it was last updated on 19 October, 2023), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.