21/09/2026
PART 2 | THE OPEN HEARTH HOTEL HISTORY SERIES
If you grew up around Warrawong in the 1960s and 70s, you already know what the OH meant to this community. If you did not, this post will tell you everything.
By the 1960s the Open Hearth Hotel was no longer just Warrawong's pub. It was the pub everyone in New South Wales was talking about.
The famous L-shaped Big Bar had become a landmark in its own right. Steelworkers, tradesmen and locals packed the saloon every night of the week. The staff knew the regulars by name and by order.
The publican at the time said people used the OH more as a club than a hotel. Looking at the photos from this era, it is easy to see why.
Out on the footpath, the hot dog boys had set up their cans along King Street, doing a trade that rivalled the bar inside. One seller, Warwick Lynch, later recalled that the security dog beside the stand belonged to his sister, who had left him there while she went next door to the pictures at the Odeon.
In 1964 the OH was officially crowned the top country pub in New South Wales for b**r sales. Not just the Illawarra. Not just the south coast. Every country hotel in the entire state. They held that title for twelve years running.
By 1972 the numbers were extraordinary. 41,000 middies of b**r sold in a single week. A journalist asked the barmaid Mrs Dawson, who had worked at the OH for twenty years, why they sold so much. She said "because it tasted good and was well served."
The steelworks gave people a job. The OH gave them a reason to knock off.
This is Part 2 of the OH history series. Part 3 dropping next Monday!
Do you remember the OH in this era? Did you work here, drink here or grow up around it? Drop your memories in the comments. We want to hear every story.
Photo credits: Wollongong City Libraries and the Illawarra Historical Society / Warwick Lynch Collection / Illawarra Mercury.
