Rogers Store

Auburn Street, c. 1925. Album 74, no. 15539.

Sitting comfortably on the corner of Auburn and Montague street with an idle view of Belmore Park is a building that everyone knows. Today you can pick up a bargain on anything from pet supplies, kitchenware, or fabric for your next big project at Best Buys of Goulburn, but for today let us transport back to the past.

The land on the corner of Auburn and Montague street was first sold by Crown Land to Thomas Brodie in the 1830s. Brodie was a Scottish building contractor who, by 1837, had constructed an inn on the land.

The Salutation Inn would remain on site until 1888. During that time the inn went through many different owners, including notable local Charles McAlister from 1842 to 1879.

Charles McAlister's Salutation Hotel c.1880. Album 21, no. 3910.

After the demolition of the Salutation Hotel the land was marked for the construction of a new retail emporium.

Furner and Sons was a business that had been running in Goulburn since 1862 under the leadership of Owen Furner. In 1885, Owen Furner handed over the business to his sons. Sometime after the demolition of the Salutation Inn and the construction of the new retail emporium, the Furner’s business would move to the site where it would remain under several names over the years, including Furner and Sons, Furner Bros and Coy, Furner Bros and Jones, and Jones and Coy.

We move from this corner for a moment to look at another family elsewhere in Goulburn. The Rogers' came to Australia from England in 1856 and made the move to Goulburn 1858 where Charles ‘Chas’ Rogers started a business crafting furniture. The next year, Chas would establish the store his family would become known for until the modern day: Rogers and Sons.

Chas was killed in 1864 in a coaching accident and his 20 year old son, also named Charles (see below), took over the business. Under Charles, the business truly thrived, and he expanded to using horses-drawn vans to supply furniture as far as Cooma and Wagga Wagga and commencing a 60 horse coachline between Goulburn and Yass.

Charles Rogers, 1915. Portrait by Elite Studios. Album 15, no. 3075.

In 1901, Charles Rogers bought the store at the corner of Montague and Auburn street and moved the business there, it was in this place that the Rogers Store would make its mark and memorable impression on the Goulburn community.

Charles Rogers store window display, c. 1950. Album 59, no. 13378.

By all accounts Charles Rogers was an interesting character.

Known specifically for a love of towers, Charles would construct many across the properties that he owned. Most notably, one tower made entirely of wood stood upon the top of his Great Arcade in Auburn street (located a few doors down from the post office, and no longer present).

Left: Tower in Auburn St. Goulburn Post, 13 January, 1989. Right: Auburn St., looking north. Album 24, no. 4452.

The tower was three storeys high reaching a height of 112ft and was eventually ordered to be taken down in 1911 due to it being unsafe.

Another interesting story regarding Mr Rogers was that of an unmarked gravestone planted within the grounds of the old furniture warehouse on Sloane Street.

It was 1883 and Charles Rogers was sick. Excited about the potential financial opportunity of this event, his competitors sought to buy stock from his creditors. However, it was Charles who got the last laugh in this little altercation. Rogers recovered from his illness and put up a tombstone in his window to the financial memory of his competitors.

Charles Rogers and Co. Jubilee Souvenir: 50 Years of Progress. Goulburn Mulwaree Library.

In 1914 a celebratory brochure commemorating 50 years of the Rogers store was published. The brochure highlights the history of the store as well as the Heads of Departments who worked at the store at the time of publication.

Charles Rogers and Co. Jubilee Souvenir: 50 Years of Progress. Goulburn Mulwaree Library.

The Rogers family would continue to operate the business for many years until the 1940s when it was sold to Burns and Phillip, who continued to trade under the Rogers name. The store was then sold to J.B Young and Co., a company originally from Queanbeyan, and then to Grace Brothers.

In recent years the store has been the fond shopping place of many people in Goulburn, trading as Dimmeys and today as Best Buys of Goulburn.