The first Horsham survey map in 1849 shows a building labelled "Inn" at what is now 31 Roberts Avenue.
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By 1882 there were 17 hotels in Horsham, 10 in Wilson Street alone.
It was calculated that there was one drinking place for every 117 people in Horsham.
The main reason for such establishments, in those early days of travel by horse, was for accommodation.
The condition of a hotel's stables was just as important as the keeping of an orderly public house.
One hotelier lost his licence because there was inadequate horse-feed.
Standard licensed hours were 11.30pm closing, but after 1879, were often as late as 3am to allow for the arrival of travellers on the "Intercolonial" express train.
In 1916 the law changed so that hotels had to close by 6pm, leading to the infamous "six o'clock swill". After 1966 licences were relaxed to more sociable hours.
In the early days Horsham had to brew its own beer.
From around 1874 there were two breweries at the eastern end of Hamilton Street, on the south side.
The Victoria Brewery was owned by Peter R. Stevens and his son Gus.
The Horsham Brewery was owned by Ernest Seeliger.
Both of them drew water directly from the river water hole, which was then filtered, to produce their beer. Between them they supplied Horsham's hotels with draught beer in wooden casks and bottled ale and stout.
The competition between them was fierce.
In 1890 there was a dispute, played out in the newspapers, over who was producing offensive smells.
However they both closed; Seeliger's in 1900 and Stevens' about 1904.
Cheaper supplies came by rail from brewers such as the Ballarat Brewing Company.
There was a brief revival of local beer brewing in 1904 by retired Natimuk farmer, Ernst Haustorfer.
He built the "Horsham Lager Beer Brewery" about 23 McPherson Street, just south of Baillie Street.
However it soon became apparent that the competition from Ballarat and Melbourne brewers was too severe.
Ernst hired a new brewer and tried to diversify into ginger beers but it was not enough and by 1916 Ernst, at the age of 81, succumbed to commercial pressures and retired for good.
Future articles will be about individual hotels, some known and some never heard from again.
Have you heard of Horsham hotels named, "The Cricketers Arms", the "Farmers Union" or the "Crown Hotel"?
