A coaching inn, called Rainhill Tavern, was situated at the crossroads (see Kendricks Cross) in the early 19th century.
At the time of the Rainhill Trials, the Tavern was very busy and the landlady reserved one room for the use of better class visitors. After 1851, it was renamed the Victoria Hotel following an occasion when Queen Victoria alighted from her train at Rainhill Station on her way to Croxteth Hall. (Victoria Street, Victoria Road and Victoria Terrace were also named in honour of this occasion.)
Being one of the largest buildings in Rainhill it was a meeting place for organisations such as the Grand Order of Buffaloes and the Oddfellows. Auctions were also held at the Victoria. The inquest into the deaths of the wife and four children of Frederick Deeming took place at the Victoria in 1892.
