In 1912, Sir James Joynton Smith, then owner of The Carrington Hotel, decided that a bank was required on the premises. Construction swiftly commenced and the bank opened as a branch of the City Bank of Sydney in June 1912. 

The building remained a bank until the 1930’s when the branch closed and was subsequently repurposed as the perhaps less salubrious Carrington Saloon Bar. 

The Saloon Bar ceased trading when the entire Carrington Hotel, closed in 1986, reopening with after a change of ownership and major renovation of the whole precinct.

Housed upstairs, The Old City Bank Brasserie has received industry recognition for consistent quality and innovative pub food including the 2010 induction into the Australian Hotels Hall of Fame.