Situated in the heart of the East End on Rundle Street, the iconic Austral Hotel has long been recognised as a favourite amongst the greater population of Adelaide and visiting guests. In 1880, architect William McMinn was commissioned to design 14 shops and a hotel covering almost two town acres. The complex was established for the South Australian Company, one of the most important commercial enterprises in the colony due to its role in the founding of the settlement. The complex was built between 1880 and 1883, beginning with the hotel at the eastern section. It was first known as the Family Hotel, and the name was changed three times after that. It became the Austral in 1898, just before Australian Federation in 1901.The hotel made headlines in the local newspapers in November 1915 when a horse, started by the strange noise of a motorcycle, bolted and crashed through a window into the front bar. Although there was much damage to the hotel, luckily the horse and patrons were largely unharmed.