A boom year for Electric City hotels
Early hotels were an important part of life in the growing city
Peterborough the Electric City, an unusual 1908 newspaper tabloid, contained information on about 200 local businesses, including 10 hotels. The tabloid captured the essence of the young city during a boom year in construction, and the hotels reflected the excitement of the times. Trains were the main means of travel, and of carrying freight outwards and importing goods. Railway lines radiated in a dozen directions, and every hour of the day mail and passengers entered and left Peterborough.
In two previous columns I shared the words used to describe seven hotels. Each description carried insights, snatches of a past history, hints of changing times when hotels were happening places. Three other hotels were featured in this 1908 tabloid.
There has been a hotel at 172 Simcoe Street since the 1880s, and in 1885 it was known as the CPR Hotel and R.N. Roddy had just leased the “commodious” hotel, formerly known as the American. At the time, it was described as being just west of Fairweather’s Department Store. In 1908, it was next to Barrie’s and Turnbull’s, just west of George on the north side. In recent times this was the Purple Rooster. The 1908 Electric City described the New Oxford Hotel:
“At No.172 Simcoe street stands the Oxford Hotel, one of the popular hotels in Peterborough. The building is a handsome three-story red brick structure. It contains thirty-six rooms and is fitted with every convenience, thoroughly heated and lighted, has attractively arranged parlors, commodious office and dining-room. The table sets all that could be desired and the service one of the best. There is a finely stocked bar where the best of wines and liquors, ales and beers, and the best imported and domestic tobaccos and cigars can be had. In connection with the hotel is a finely equipped barber shop. This hotel compares favorably with any other $1.00 a day inn in Ontario. The proprietress, Mary Bowman, is a capable business woman, and has been resident in Peterborough for thirty-five years.”
Mary Bowman (1856-1923) was a widow in 1908 but had been in the hotel business with her husband William Henry (c. 18401899) since the 1870s, although not always in Peterborough. In the 1891 census, William was described as a hotel clerk and his wife was a musician; they were long associated with a hotel across from the CPR station, on George Street between Dalhousie and the pedestrian walk by the CPR bridge. Their son, William A. Bowman (1875-1937) had a career in show business; he was known around town for his frequent stilt-walking. The 1908 Electric City never noted that music was part of the scene at the
New Oxford Hotel.
The three-storey building to the west was taken down in the 1970s by Bell Telephone as part of a plan to expand their building on Hunter Street. Now, the painting on the hotel wall was revealed and read “C.P.R. HOTEL.” The demolished building had main floor stores, second-floor apartments and formerly the lodge rooms of the Canadian Order of Foresters on the third floor. The building, which dated from the 1880s, obscured the 1885 sign. Old-timers in the early 1970s recalled the hotel was previously known as the King George and as the King. The King George hotel was run by the Tanner family in the 1940s; but I could not confirm when it would have been the King.
The Snowden House was one of Peterborough’s most storied hotels. William Snowden (18331920) was born in Newcastle-onTyne, England, and settled in Smith Township in 1847. He worked one year for Thomas W. Milburn, five in lumbering and for seven years ran a hotel in Bobcaygeon. He came to Peterborough in 1882, and the Snowden House was built about then. By 1908, William Snowden had retired but the hotel still bore his name. The 1908 Electric City described the hotel:
“The Snowden House is one of the leading hotels in Peterborough and is an attractive threestory brick building at No.190 Charlotte street. This hotel is one
of the oldest established houses in the city and is a general favourite with tourists. It has accommodation for fifty guests and is kept well filled all the time. The house is well ventilated, is heated by steam and lighted by electricity. It has thoroughly up-to-date sitting-rooms and a telephone in every room. The rates are $1.50 and $2.00 per day. The dining room is a model of neatness and the tables are bright with their snowy napery and polished silver and glass, while the best the markets supply is well cooked and properly served. A well stocked bar is in connection where the leading brands of domestic and foreign wines and liquors, malted goods and imported domestic and imported cigars are served. Mr. Donald Fraser, the genial proprietor, is an experienced hotel man who knows how to make his guests at home. In the life of Peterborough he is a prominent figure and a popular and successful business man.”
The Charlbond Building is the modern successor to the Snowden House.
The last of the 10 hotels in the 1908 Electric City was the
Queen’s Hotel, at Charlotte and Aylmer. The building was destroyed in the big fire of December 1984 that also destroyed Trent University Bookstore and the Peterborough Curling Club. In 1908, it was described as follows:
“For a quarter of a century the Queen’s Hotel has been one of the hotels of Peterborough. It was opened in 1883 by Patrick Clunan, the latter selling out to the present proprietor in 1900. The hotel is fitted throughout with every modern convenience, thoroughly heated and lighted, has attractively arranged parlors, commodious office and diningroom that is a model of neatness. There is a finely stocked bar, where the best of wines and liquors, ales and beers, and imported and domestic cigars can be had. The guest rooms are bright, clean, and attractively furnished with every comfort. Located as this house is near the G.T.R. Station, and at the corner of Charlotte and Aylmer streets, it is a favorite stopping place. Mr. Tooley is one of the best-known and most popular hotel men in this section. Previous to his coming to Peterborough, he conducted a hotel in Myrtle. He is identified with the S.O.S. and the A.O.U.W.”
Patrick J. Clunan from Lindsay married Ellen Callaghan from Omemee in 1874, and they farmed in Emily for awhile. Clunan ran the hotel until 1901 when he moved to Fort William. He then moved to Port Huron, Michigan and perhaps elsewhere. Michael C. Tooley ran the hotel for about 10 years.
In addition to these 10 significant hotels profiled in the 1908 Electric City there were contemporary hotels that went unmentioned. Notable among these were the Albion Hotel, at Hunter and Aylmer, and the adjacent buildings that included Halpin’s hotel in the 1880s; this is the heart of the Café District now.
Also not included were the Windsor Hotel, long beloved as the Pig’s Ear; the Munro House, formerly Morgan’s at Water and Hunter, now the site of Scotiabank; the White House on Charlotte Street; and the Montreal House, which was a temperance hotel in 1908.
There is no clear reason why these hotels were omitted. Some may have been being reorganized in 1908. There was likely an advertising charge to appear in this newspaper promotion.
From this sample of 10 hotels in Peterborough in 1908 the hotel keepers moved readily between hotels and between towns. The hotels certainly catered to travelling salesmen. However, local people also used them for bars, dining room and guest rooms. When houses were very small, the hotel provided the extra space that we now get with recreation rooms and spare bedrooms.
Looking at all the hotels at a single point of time captured the diversity and the riskiness of hotel keepers. The Electric City tabloid proved even-handed and useful.