The Imperial Hotel was the first hotel to be built in York, Western Australia that adopted the new "Australian hotel" style in hotel design, with a dominant position on a main street corner block, high and ornate double verandahs surrounding the façade and a main entrance onto the street. The building is in Victorian Filigree style. Coming of rail to York A poor road from York to Guildford had always been a major problem for the transport of produce. In 1881, following the opening of the Eastern Railway from Fremantle to Guildford, the line was extended to Chidlow. Engineer/architect James William Wright and engineer Edward Keane successfully tendered for the Eastern Railway line extension to York, and the line was extended in 1885. Subdivision and construction In York, in 1885, part of Avon Locations X and Y on the south side of South Street and owned by merchant John Henry Monger Jnr was subdivided. Location Y was traversed by the Eastern Railway line, then under construction, and the York station yard was located within the new subdivision. Already on the land was the Sisters of Mercy convent and school, on South Street, and the York Mechanic’s Institute on Avon Terrace (where the Town Hall is now situated). James Grave and Edward Keane acquired Lots 12 and 13 on the corner of Avon Terrace and Joaquina Street, which led directly to the railway station. Grave was an investor in the railway line extension to York. On 18 December 1885, Grave, Keane, William Mumme and Frederick Monger obtained a £4,000 mortgage from the Bank of New South Wales, presumably to pay for part of the cost of construction of the hotel. Frederick Monger was the son of John Henry Monger Jnr, and Mumme was a major partner in the Swan Brewery and owned a small brewery in York. The hotel was under construction in November 1885. No tenders for the construction have been located. The contractors were A. J. Castledine and A. B. Wright, and the work was supervised by Castledine. Opening On 29 May 1886, Frederick Thomas Pamment advertised his intention of applying for a Publican’s General Licence for the hotel. The place was described at that time as containing thirteen bedrooms and four sitting rooms, exclusive of those required by the family. The licence application notice revealed that Pamment was leasing the hotel from Keane, Monger, Grave and Mumme. A