100 YEARS OF THE COMMERCIAL HOTEL (COLLECTOR'S EDITION)
RemembeR when... 1910-1920 - EARLY HISTORY OF THE COMMERCIAL HOTEL D
id you know that the Commercial Hotel that we patronize and routinely look at whether we’re strolling, cycling or driving by, isn’t the first edition of the Commercial Hotel to be built on the Whyte avenue site? While we are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the wonderful three storey brick structure, it was actually a wooden framed hotel that was built on the exact site in the mid-1890s, and there was an addition put onto that structure after 1904. The original structure was designed by George Allan Cameron who had worked his way across the country from his native Ontario, building churches on the prairies. According to city archives, libraries and reputable sources like newspapers, that wooden structure was painstakingly dismantled board by board in 1911 and once those materials were hauled away the basic structure we recognize today was erected. The oldest portion of the current Commercial Hotel is the west side of the building and the best vantage point to see what was a modern brick building looked like a century ago is by standing directly across the avenue. One of the archived sources that remind us of the history of the Commercial Hotel is a supplement or special edition of the Edmonton Journal that was printed in 1913. It was published just after the doors of the new building were opened to the public.
DID YOU KNOW?
The new Commercial was one of the dreams of then owner Stephen Swaboda. However Swaboda sold his interests to a progressive developer named Thomas J. Walsh just as construction of the new building was underway. Walsh was a prominent figure in the Edmonton area who upon his arrival, just after 1880, became the principal at St. Anthony’s school. A number of years later he accepted a position with the young Alberta government in the education department.
TWINNING of the cities of Strathcona and Edmonton came about with the construction of the High Level Bridge that began in 1910. The city of Strathcona contributed a $50,000 grant to construction costs after ratepayers voted 691 in favor to 263 against to build the bridge which was completed in 1913. AT THE SAME TIME the new Commercial Hotel was being built, construction on the Post Office at 105 street and Whyte avenue had commenced and the construction of first stage of the University Hospital was underway. The Post Office cost $70,000 and the hospital over $100,000.
A few years later, and around the same time Walsh was seeing his vision of the new Commercial Hotel become a reality, he was also elected to the Edmonton City Council in a 1912 election. This coincided with Edmonton amalgamating with the city of Strathcona. The new Commercial, which cost just under $50,000 to build, was one of five hotels in the Strathcona neighborhood at the time, but certainly the one that gained a reputation as a top flight establishment of the day. According to records of the day, the hotel could accommodate some 100 patrons, every room had hot and cold running water and the Commercial became a destination point for travelers, one, because of a reputation as a first class establishment, and in part thanks to its close proximity to the CPR station that sits just south of 103 street and Whyte avenue. Upon opening the new hotel, Walsh hired Mr. J Pendel who was an experienced hotel man-
STRATHCONA is named for visionary entrepreneur Donald Smith who became Lord Strathcona. Smith was one of the most prominent men in the history of the Hudson’s Bay Company and he was also employed by the Canadian government to quell the Riel Rebellion on the prairies. Smith’s most notable achievement, and one of the greatest feats of early Canadian history, was his vision of building a railway from coast to coast. The final spike was driven into the CPR at Craigellachie, British Columbia on November 7, 1885 by CPR railroad financier Donald Smith.
ager, to oversee the day to day operations of the business. The dining room in the new Commercial Hotel was one of the finest on the prairies, employing a respected chef and boasting a staff of 16 and an impressive menu.
WHYTE AVENUE was the scene of the most construction activity in 1911 and 1912 in the greater Edmonton area.
Just prior to World War I, the real estate boom in Edmonton ended suddenly, causing the city's population to decline sharply—from over 72,500 in 1914 to under 54,000 only two years later. It was a number of years before the city’s population would show rapid growth.
1890-1920
IMAGES COURTESY OF CITY OF EDMONTON ARCHIVES
WHEN WORLD WAR ONE broke out in August 1914, Major Griesbach and many of the 19th Alberta Dragoons volunteered for the 1st Divisional Cavalry Squadron of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Many from the 101st Regiment (Edmonton Fusiliers) joined the 9th Battalion, one of the new numbered infantry units established the existing militia structure was set aside in assembling active service units for overseas duty. The 9th Battalion was sent to England but remained there as a static reinforcement battalion sending troops to other units.
1908 1899
May 29, 1899 Strathcona was incorporated as a town named after Lord Strathcona
1891
ONE OF THE MOST prominent families in the Edmonton/ Strathcona community in the early nineteen hundreds was the Pollard family whose patriarchs were brothers Frank and John Pollard who established a brick yard in the flats. The Pollards, following World War I would also own and operate an auto supply business and open a theatre.
The Calgary and Edmonton Railway arrived in 1891, establishing an urban hamlet on what is now Whyte Avenue
Premier A.C. Rutherford, Strathcona’s MLA established the University of Alberta in the City of Strathcona in 1908, in the building that is now Old Scona Academic High School
1914
World War I began on 28 July 1914
1902
As fires swept through many prairie communities, Strathcona's town council passed an ordinance requiring that all buildings be constructed of fire-resistant materials, such as brick
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1912
The City of Strathcona was annexed by the City of Edmonton on February 1, 1912.
1918
World War I ends when Germany signs Armistice on 11 November 1918