While it’s hard to imagine Front Street without the iconic Royal York Hotel, that plot of land was still home to Toronto’s favourite hotel — just not how you think.
The Queen’s Hotel was a town staple, becoming the most popular and modern hotel in Toronto during its time.
But, while it featured many prominent names, the Queen’s legacy is also marred with the stains of the Confederacy.
Before it was the Queen’s Hotel
That prime real estate along Front street was originally slated to be a series of row houses designed by John Howard — the man who would later give High Park to the city.
But, in 1856, a hotelier named Patrick Sword renovated the building into a hotel — dubbed the Sword’s Hotel ( or Swords’ Hotel, or Swords Hotel, depending on which references you’re pulling from, because proper grammar clearly hadn’t been invented yet).
Original plans for the Sword’s Hotel
Because most of the people who booked hotels were government officials, when the colonial capital was moved to Quebec City, so did all the clients, and Sword along with it.
After a brief stint being named the “Reverse Hotel” in 1860, Thomas Dicks, a local steamboat captain, bought the hotel, renovated it and gave it a new name: Queen’s Hotel.
The hotel’s popularity
By the turn of the 19th century, the Queen’s Hotel was a hot-spot in Toronto, thanks to its close proximity to Union Station, and being right beside Toronto’s first zoo, Piper’s Zoological Gardens — which was famous at the time for one of it’s main attraction: the carcass of a whale.
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The Queen’s Hotel boasted some impressive specs for the time — including over 210 rooms, 17 private parlours, a fine restaurant, a private botanical garden, and a croquet ground located on the east side.
While the fine furniture and lush interiors were the draw for some, it was also one of the most advanced hotels in Canada. It featured a number of firsts, like hot air furnaces and running water in every room, business phones, and passenger elevators.
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During its run, the hotel’s registry flaunted big names like the Prince of Wales (King Edward VII), the Grand Duke Alexis of Russia, and a number of politicians of the day.
One frequented guest of note was Sir John A MacDonald, who favoured making political deals in the Red Parlour room whenever he was in town.
Impact during the Civil War
During the American Civil War, Toronto was the city used by both Union and Confederates as their home for counter-intelligence and espionage — and both parties frequented the Queen’s Hotel.
The Confederacy actually loved the hotel so much, they made it the headquarters of the Confederate Secret Service, seeing over 100 Southerners renting out the entire hotel.
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There were a number of plans drawn up at the Queen’s, including firebombing New York for the retaliation of the destruction of Atlanta, prison breaks for more Confederate soldiers, and a failed attempt to kidnap then Vice-President-Elect Andrew Johnson.
Hard to believe it now, but there were actually a fair number of Southern sympathizers, fearing annexation from the Union. But, with the Confederates increasing failures and violent acts like the St. Albans raid, anti-South sentiment in Toronto started to rise.
The hotel’s legacy
Eventually, in 1927, the Canadian Pacific Railways bought the Queen’s Hotel for one million dollars, only to demolish it into what is now the Royal York hotel, opening less than two years after the acquisition in 1929.
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The Queen’s Hotel is a bygone relic of Old Toronto’s past, but its legacy is still reflected in the Royal York. It laid the groundwork for one of the most popular hotels in the city, and it’s even said that elements of the Queen’s were integrated into the Royal York.
