The oldest known inn in Moffat is the Black Bull which was built as early as 1568. This may be the inn which was run by Provost Johnston in the 1720s and later in the 18th Century it was owned by James Duncan, a Moffat merchant. Rae’s Inn was situated close to the current site of the Buccleuch Arms but on a line about 30 feet east. The Raes, hence Rae Street, were a well-known Moffat family who later emigrated to Australia. In the 19th Century a building simply called The Hotel may have stood where Hetherington’s chemist’s shop now is or it may have been just to the south of the Annandale Arms.
The Annandale Arms was built as the King’s Arms in about 1752 by James Duncan. It was known as the ―Head Inn‖ and was renowned as one of the most comfortable inns on the road. To the rear of the hotel was a cow shed and stabling for over 50 horses. When the Beattock to Elvanfoot road was opened in the 1820s the King’s Arms lost most of its coaching traffic and the Edinburgh coaches used the Spur Inn. During the 1830s Mr. and Mrs. Cranstoun moved to the King’s Arms from The Spur and gave it the new name of the Annandale Arms. Jane Cranstoun was famed for her lavender-scented sheets, her choice cooking, and her fine wines.
The Balmoral was built about 1764 as The Spur. William and Jane Cranstoun ran the hotel until they moved to the King’s Arms in 1838. The Spur was then a private house and boarding house, Proudfoot House, before George Cavers turned it into a Temperance Hotel. In 1931 it underwent extensive alterations and was renamed ―The Balmoral.
The Buccleuch Arms was built about 1760 but was not known as the Buccleuch until after 1860. Jane Cranstoun bought it in 1848, adding a third storey. She moved there in 1863 when she sold the Annandale Arms to Robert Norris.
The Star stands on the site of the Star Inn which in 1697 was part of the Provost merkland. In the latter part of the 18th Century the Star Inn belonged to Dr. James Johnstone who sold it to Samuel MacMillan, a Moffat merchant. At this time the Star was occupied by James Rae, postmaster. The Star changed hands several times until James Lumsden Brown, a baker, bought it for £710 in 1854. The current Star Hotel, designed by architect William Notman, was built in 1860.
Moffat House, built in the 1760s, did not become a hotel until 1950.
Apart from Cavers’ Temperance Hotel, there were at least three other temperance establishments in Moffat. The Harthope Temperance House was opened in 1861 with a bequest from Johnstone of Harthope. The Hope House Temperance Hotel was run during the 1870s by Mrs. Cowan in Well Street. In December 1878 the Anchor Inn opened in Dickson Street under the auspices of Miss Shaw Stewart and Mr. Mitchell Carruthers. The Anchor offered tea, coffee, and a reading room and it was managed by Elizabeth Whyte in 1881.
Moffat Miscellany No.1 – Early Visitors and Their Impressions of Moffat p.18