Hunter's Emporium, Heritage-listed department store in Roma, Queensland, Australia.
Hunter's Emporium is a two-story brick building on McDowell Street with red facades and decorative brick bands across its face. The interior features original timber columns and ornamental ceiling details that showcase early 1900s department store design.
John McEwan Hunter established this store in 1916 after a fire destroyed his previous shop. The new building became a fresh start for commercial activity in Roma and expanded Hunter's textile trading operations across the region.
The building shows how retail in western Queensland developed over time and served as an important place where people shopped for fabrics and household goods.
The building sits at a main intersection with large windows that provided natural light for the sales floors. Its corner location makes it easy to spot and explore while walking around town.
The original timber columns and decorative ceilings remain inside, showing rare examples of early 1900s department store architecture. These details are uncommon in Australia and make the building an important record of how stores were designed in that era.
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