The Bridge Hotel was built in 1859 by Henry Hopwood, an ex-convict and one of Echuca’s most enterprising characters from early colonial days. In 1850 Henry bought a small punt, which operated across the Murray River near the Campaspe Junction.

Originally know as “Hopwood’s Ferry” the name was changed to Echuca as the town grew. Henry worked to establish a town, which eventually had a major influence on the development of the great inland river system. He built the Bridge Hotel in 1859 and helped found the Riverine Herald in 1863. When he died in 1869 he left a thriving town where nothing existed 16 years earlier.