Oeo Hotel (1906)

Situated alongside the Oeo Stream about 3 km south of Pihama.

Local folklore and rumour apparently relates that the hotel was being moved to Pihama when it became stuck in the hollow it presently occupies by the Oeo Stream.

The hotel is thought to have been establshed about 1885, perhaps, initially, on the high ground a little to the south.

In 1897 the proprietor, James Gorrie, did apply to have the Oeo Hotel's license transferred to a section in Pihama township.

Presumably this did not eventuate as the hotel was destroyed by fire in January 1906. The licensee at the time was Arthur Martin, who advertised in May that year that the new hotel was finished and open for business (Hawera & Normanby Star, 24 May 1906)

The proposal to re-build the destroyed hotel on its Oeo Stream site led to several indignant letters in the Hawera Star decrying the decision. They suggested that nearby Pihama was a much more realistic location than that of the hotel which was "buried in a gully, certainly a most isolated and useless position for an accomodation house." (Hawera & Normanby Star, 28 Feb 1906) See also a letter from Pro Bono Publico in Hawera & Normanby Star. 

Oeo Hotel did, however, survive in its isolation until it closed finally and was sold to private interests about 2006.

The two-storied section is likely to be the 1906 hotel - now much-renovated - and with at least two or three later additions. It is now a private residence.

Further Reading: Oeo Through the Years, O'Brien, Diana. 1985, pp 35-38.