By 1895, at least three other mills had been established in the Isis, with another two under construction, and Childers had emerged as the flourishing centre of a substantial sugar-growing district: in the years between 1891 and 1900 the population grew from 91 to 4000.

[1] The growth of the Isis district in the 1890s is reflected in the series of hotels constructed in Childers to accommodate travellers, businessmen and the many seasonal workers in the sugar industry.

The land on which the Federal Hotel is situated was originally granted as a selection to Ernest Dyne but changed hands before being extensively subdivided into town lots in 1892.

William Ashby purchased several lots of land on the corner of Churchill and North Streets in 1905 and constructed the Federal Hotel around 1907.

[1] The hotel is approximately L-shaped in plan with the roof, core structure and awnings truncated at the corner facing the intersection.

It is set on very low stumps and has a hipped roof clad in corrugated iron with shallow decorated gables at the centre of each street elevation.

[1] The hotel's major external feature is a two-storey verandah running along both streets, which is supported on paired and single posts with decorative cast iron brackets on both levels.

[1] The principal entrance is at the street corner and opens onto a large public bar through bat wing doors.

There is a single storey kitchen section, which appears to have originally been detached but is now linked to the main building, set behind the dining area.

[1] The upper floor of the hotel contains a guest lounge at the street corner and there is a kitchen and bedrooms leading off the central halls that run along each wing.

As a well designed timber building on a prominent corner site, the Federal Hotel is a landmark in the main street of Childers and contributes to the architecturally coherent and picturesque townscape.

It is associated with the community of Childers as a public building that has formed part of the recreational life of the town for most of the 20th century.