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Mount Royal Hotel (186 Higgins Avenue, Winnipeg)

Originally called the Wolseley Hotel when it was designed by local architect Henry S. Griffith and built in 1904 on Higgins Avenue in Winnipeg, by brothers Benjamin G. Fonseca and Alfonso G. Fonseca, other owners through the years included Barney Aaron (1915-1918), Peter Moyer (1918-1920), Robert T. McKeen (1920), Joshua B. Gray (1921-1924), William Robertson (1925), John J. McCarroll (1926-1931), William McCord (1932), Richard Lindholm (1941-1947), Henry Dougloski and Sons (1948-1952), and Joseph and Leopold Menard (1952-1955). In 1952, the Menards changed its name to the Menard Hotel. It was renamed the Mount Royal Hotel in 1956. During the 1950s and 1960s, the hotel was a popular meeting spot for the city’s lesbian community.

Mount Royal Hotel (May 2017)
Source: George Penner

Mount Royal Hotel (June 2017)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough

Site Location (lat/long): N49.90432, W97.13317
denoted by symbol on the map above

Sources:

Wolseley (Mount Royal) Hotel, 186 Higgins Avenue by Murray Peterson, Peterson Projects, February 2007.

This page was prepared by George Penner, Jim Astwood, and Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 11 December 2021

Historic Sites of Manitoba

This is a collection of historic sites in Manitoba compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. The information is offered for historical interest only.

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