The Catholic girls boarding school, Loreto College, was opened in January 1928, and a new school building was erected in 1931. In 1942 the Australian Army commandeered Loreto Convent as the 101st Australian Convalescent Hospital and the Loreto sisters, with their students, were temporarily evacuated to Glen Innes until the end of the war. The 101st was associated with the 10th Australian Camp Hospital located nearby.