It was established at a time of growth and the development of Hughenden as a service centre and railhead for the surrounding pastoral properties and mineral fields.

The discovery of the importance of the Flinders and Gregory Plains for stock, and of the Albert River as an export and supply port led to the opening up of Western Queensland.

Henry's claims for the pastoral leases of Hughenden and other runs were the first to be entered in the Commissioner for Crown Land's register.

In 1863 Henry travelled to the Burdekin with his cousin Robert Gray to purchase livestock that would become the founding stock of Hughenden Station.

In 1876, Gray allowed William Marks to build a hotel on the station to cater for travellers passing through to the Cloncurry mining area.

In 1888 Wilmetts Almanac described Hughenden as being on the direct route to Cloncurry, a district rich in minerals, including gold reefs, copper lodes and opals.

The addition of a dumping company where wool from the surrounding district was pressed before being railed to Townsville also ensured the town's survival.

As a transport hub for stock, supplies and as a service centre for the northwestern district, Hughenden had no equal at the end of the nineteenth century.

[1] In common with so many other Queensland country towns, a large number of timber hotels in Hughenden were destroyed by fire.

[1] The Grand Hotel was designed by Munro and Co with Townsville builders Richie and Doig responsible for construction.

After winning a local competition for the design of the "Queensland" Hotel in Townsville, Munro joined Walter Eyre in partnership in 1887.

[1] The North Queensland Herald described the Hotel as a symmetrical two-storied structure on the main thoroughfare from the railway.

It was framed with hardwood and silky oak chamfer boards and beneath the bar there was an extensive cellar with street access.

[1] In September 1912 Mrs Robinson leased The Grand Hotel to Patrick O'Neill, a former representative of James Stewart and Co in Rockhampton.

Located two minutes from the Post Office, its attractions included first class cuisine, Allcock's latest Billiard Tables and plunge and shower baths.

The Grand Hotel was used to billet the wives and children of Australian Army and Air Force Officers during 1942-1945.

A RAAF Aerodrome was located at Hughenden and the US Army Air force had an airfield under construction at the nearby town of Torrens Creek by 23 March 1942.

[1] Hughenden remains an important business centre for families on outlying stations and is increasingly being used by motor tourists as a rest stop.

Images of The Grand Hotel feature in tourist information for the area and it is also visible in a series of television advertisements for the north-west promoting the "Dinosaur Trail" fossil exhibits of the region.

[2] The Grand Hotel is located on the corner of Gray and Stansfield Streets facing north and west and is one of the larger buildings in Hughenden.

Although a relatively plain building it achieves some prominence through its size compared to its neighbours and the effect of the deep, scalloped valance below the first floor veranda balustrade.

[1] The hotel is of timber frame construction with exposed studding and horizontal chamferboard walls with internal beading.

At first floor level there is a two-rail dowel balustrade over a deep, scalloped, valance formed from tongue-and-groove matchboards and decorative fretwork brackets.

Over the bar area air conditioning ducting has been enclosed in a lowered ceiling finished with acoustic tiles.

[1] At ground floor level this extension to the building includes part of the Bar, the ladies and gents toilets and a small shop, opening off the veranda footpath.

[1] The central area of what was the courtyard has been covered over with a boarded floor forming a common room for hotel guests.

As a provider of food, accommodation and entertainment, the number and size of hotels in a town were used as an indicator of the prosperity of a district.

The building demonstrates the principal characteristics of a large timber hotel built on a prominent corner to attract regular custom.

It is important in illustrating the principal characteristics of a two-storeyed, single-skin timber hotel of the 1910s in rural Queensland.

As the largest and most visually dominant building in the town of Hughenden, The Grand Hotel has a landmark quality that helps to define not only the township, but the western region.