ABOUT THE TOWN

                        The White House                                             The Northern Bank                                               Landsdowne Crescent 

 The Belfast & Northern Counties Railway Company came into being in 1860, it acquired the Northern Counties Hotel in 1881. Although the history of the hotel goes back to 1837 its name was derived from the railway company. The town thrived on a new era of tourism and much of the wonderful architecture you can still see today comes from that period. Portrush became the place to be. You can still see and sense the splendour and affluence of that time, the Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian terraces, the fine  examples of 'Art Nouveau ' and the still operational White House department store. Some of the larger hotels have gone but others have taken on new roles in the townscape. The centre piece of the town up until the early 1990's was the famous Northern Counties Hotel which exuded all the splendour of the Victorian era with seaweed baths, exquisite tiled toilets, a ballroom, tapestries, oak lined reception rooms, grand stairways, chandeliers and sculptures, it was a classic.  Unfortunately its uniqueness and architectural heritage was taken  from the people of  Portrush by a fire which destroyed it completely. After being sold by the Fawcett family who had ran it diligently for decades, the hotel was closed down by the new owners and  within one year two separate arson attacks were made on it,  the second resulting in its complete destruction, rumours abounded about its demise and criminal action was cited as the motivation leading to its destruction and loss to Portrush.

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