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The Canadian Railway Hotels

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4 m
Apr 19, 2018
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Profile picture for user Kristy von Moos
By: Kristy von Moos
Ingenium - Canada's Museums of Science and Innovation
Postcard of the Banff Springs Hotel, featuring the Canadian Rockies, Canadian Pacific Railway Co.
Photo Credit
Ingenium Archives, MAT-05648
Postcard of the Banff Springs Hotel, featuring the Canadian Rockies, Canadian Pacific Railway Co.

This text has been adapted from the Picturing the Past website, developed by the Canada Science and Technology Museum in 2006. 

In addition to building the rail system across the country, Canada’s two national railway companies (Canadian National Railways and the Canadian Pacific Railway) built a string of grand hotels in the major cities and resort areas of the nation.

Interior of Jasper Lodge, Jasper Alberta, 1954.
Photo Credit
Ingenium Archives, CN Collection, X-39539

Jasper Lodge Lounge, Alberta, 1954. 

Many of these are still operating today, and their styles reflect the ideal of grandiose elegance marketed to potential travelers. In their time, they were among the leading hotels in the world, and set the standards for what a grand hotel “should be” in the eyes of visitors.

The Chateau Frontenac, Quebec City, 1957
Photo Credit
Ingenium Archives, CN Collection, X-43804

The Chateau Frontenac, Quebec City, 1957

Some of these structures have defined cities—try to imagine the skyline of Quebec City without the remarkable outline of the Chateau Frontenac. In many areas, the hotel was the predominant building in terms of its architectural grandeur, overall size and central location. In resort areas, such as Banff and Jasper in the Rockies, Minaki in northern Ontario and Montebello in western Quebec, the hotel became the center of all subsequent local development and the raison d’etre for the community. The railways and their hotel systems were key to the establishment of the tourism industry and its contribution to the modern Canadian economy.

Roundhouse at the railway yard with the Royal York Hotel in the background, as seen from the waterfront.
Photo Credit
Ingenium Archives, CN Collection, CN006840

Roundhouse at the railway yard with the Royal York Hotel in the background, as seen from the waterfront. Toronto, ON, 1933

The centrepiece of the whole system was Toronto’s Royal York Hotel. Canadian Pacific Railway starting building it in 1927 and, when it opened in 1929, it was the tallest building in the Commonwealth. The Royal York became known as a city within a city. It stood twenty-eight floors high, and this architectural achievement was outfitted with mechanical genius and opulence never before seen in Toronto. It boasted 1048 rooms—each with a radio, private shower and bathtub.

Royal York also included a twelve-bed hospital, a 12,000-book library and ten ornate passenger elevators. The Concert Hall featured a full stage and a mammoth pipe organ that weighed 45,000 kg (and incorporated 480 km of copper wire), which surpassed anything else in Canada. There was a glass-enclosed roof garden, the largest hotel kitchen in Canada (the bakery could produce more than 15,000 French rolls a day), a twenty-meter-long switchboard staffed by thirty-five telephone operators, a bank, and a golf course (now known as St George Golf & Country).

Other grand hotels built by the railways are featured in the slideshow below. All of these are still operating today and most have been painstakingly restored to reflect their original elegance.

The hotels are documented in a number of Ingenium's archival holdings, including the Canadian National Railway and Mattingly photo collections. Visit our new Digital Archives portal for more photographs.

The Nova Scotian Hotel, Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1953
Photo Credit
Ingenium Archives, CN Collection, X-39235

The Nova Scotian Hotel, Halifax, NS, 1953

Entrance to the Nova Scotian Hotel, Halifax, NS, 1937
Photo Credit
Ingenium Archives, CN Collection, X-06251

Entrance to the Nova Scotian Hotel, Halifax, NS, 1937

Rose Garden at the Nova Scotian Hotel, Halifax, NS, 1937.
Photo Credit
Ingenium Archives, CN Collection, X-06273

Rose Garden at the Nova Scotian Hotel, Halifax, NS, 1937

Chef at Nova Scotian Hotel, Eddie Gebistorf, preparing a lobster dish
Photo Credit
Ingenium Archives, CN Collection, X-38728

Chef at Nova Scotian Hotel, Eddie Gebistorf, preparing a lobster dish. Halifax, NS, 1953 

Charlottetown Hotel (exterior shot) July 1960
Photo Credit
Ingenium Archives, CN Collection, X-46409

Charlottetown Hotel (exterior shot), on July 15, 1960

View of the veranda of the Hotel Charlottetown, PEI, in 1941
Photo Credit
Ingenium Archives, CN Collection, X-12824

View on the veranda, Hotel Charlottetown, PEI, 1941

Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh in Charlottetown during their coast-to-cost tour of Canada. Royal Tour, Charlottetown Hotel, PEI, 1950.
Photo Credit
Ingenium Archives, CN Collection, X-33675

Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh at the Charlottetown Hotel during their coast-to-cost tour of Canada. Charlottetown, PEI, 1950 

Exterior of the Queen Elizabeth Hotel, Montreal, on July 24, 1959
Photo Credit
Ingenium Archives, CN Collection, X-45371

Exterior of the Queen Elizabeth Hotel, Montreal, QQ, July 24, 1959

"Les Voyageurs" Bar at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel, Montreal, Quebec
Photo Credit
Ingenium Archives, CN Collection, X-44102

"Les Voyageurs" Bar at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel, Montreal, QC, around 1960

Chateau Laurier, Ottawa, Ontario
Photo Credit
Ingenium Archives, CN Collection, X-38789

Chateau Laurier, Ottawa, ON, 1953

Chateau Laurier bakery, 1945
Photo Credit
Ingenium Archives, CN Collection, X-19551

Chateau Laurier bakery, Ottawa, ON, 1945

Swimming pool at the Chateau Laurier Hotel
Photo Credit
Ingenium Archives, CN Collection, X-45414

Swimming pool - Chateau Laurier Hotel. Ottawa, ON, around 1960

Fort Garry Hotel, Winnipeg, Manitoba 
Photo Credit
Ingenium Archives, CN Collection, X-41084

Fort Garry Hotel, Winnipeg, MB, no date

Cocktail lounge at the Fort Garry Hotel in Winnipeg, 1957
Photo Credit
Ingenium Archives, CN Collection, X-45072

Cocktail lounge at the Fort Garry Hotel in Winnipeg, MB, 1957

Exterior view of the Bessborough Hotel, Saskatoon
Photo Credit
Ingenium Archives, CN Collection, X-40323

Exterior view of the Bessborough Hotel, Saskatoon, SK, no date

Prairie Room cocktail bar, Bessborough Hotel, Saskatoon
Photo Credit
Ingenium Archives, CN Collection, X-50992

Prairie Room cocktail bar, Bessborough Hotel, Saskatoon, SK, June 20, 1966

Macdonald Hotel, Edmonton, Alberta, 1940
Photo Credit
Ingenium Archives, CN Collection, X-11141

Macdonald Hotel, Edmonton, AB, 1940

View of Edmonton from the Crown Suite at the Macdonald Hotel, in 1953
Photo Credit
Ingenium Archives, CN Collection, X-39148

View of Edmonton from the Crown Suite at the Macdonald Hotel, Edmonton, AB, 1953

Jasper Park Lodge in 1947
Photo Credit
Ingenium Archives, CN Collection, X-25170

Guests on Beauvert Avenue at Jasper Park Lodge, Jasper, AB, 1947

Bathing party at the swimming pool - Jasper Park Lodge, 1940
Photo Credit
Ingenium Archives, CN Collection, X-10481

Bathing party at the swimming pool, Jasper Park Lodge, Jasper, AB, 1940

Golfing at Jasper, Alberta, in 1952
Photo Credit
Ingenium Archives, CN Collection, X-37127

Golfing at Jasper, with onlooker, Jasper, AB, 1952

Hotel Vancouver in 1946
Photo Credit
Ingenium Archives, CN Collection, X-22783

Hotel Vancouver, Vancouver, BC, 1946

A double bedded studio room with screen, Hotel Vancouver, 1965
Photo Credit
Ingenium Archives, CN Collection, X-50737

A double bedded studio room with screen, Hotel Vancouver, Vancouver, BC, October 1965

Author(s)
Profile picture for user Kristy von Moos
Kristy von Moos
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Kristy von Moos is the Digital Content Officer at Ingenium. Kristy has a BA in History and Philosophy from St. Thomas University, and an MA in Public History from Carleton University. She has worked with cultural media, research, and virtual exhibit companies, and enjoys bringing history, education, and technology together. 

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