Link to:
Photos & Coordinates | Sources
Brandon’s grandest hotel was designed by the Winnipeg-based architectural firm of Pratt and Ross, and built between 1911 and 1912 at the southwest corner of Princess Avenue and Ninth Street. Opened in early 1912, it stood beside the main depot of the Canadian Northern Railway along Ninth Street.
The six-storey limestone and brick structure measured 120 feet by 100 feet. Its basement contained a billiard room, barber shop, public bath, lavatories, storeroom, laundry, and machinery room. On the ground floor was a rotunda, bar, offices, check room, telephone and telegraph offices, news stand, dining room, kitchen, pantries, bake shop, drawing room, and writing room. Upstairs were 108 rooms, 48 of which featured private or connecting bathrooms. On the top floor were servants’ quarters and ten sample rooms. There were two passenger elevators and one freight elevator.
The hotel closed in 1976. A citizens’ group tried unsuccessfully to advocate Brandon city council for its designation as an historic site. The building was demolished on 24 February 1980.
Prince Edward Hotel under construction (1911)
Source: John Everitt Collection, S. J. McKee Archives, Brandon University, JCE-2311
Prince Edward Hotel (no date) by Joe Fartak
Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2018-0064
Prince Edward Hotel (no date)
Source: Toronto Postcard Club, 2016-0081
Postcard view of the Prince Edward Hotel (circa 1915)
Source: Rob McInnes
Postcard view of the drawing room in the Prince Edward Hotel (circa 1915)
Source: Rob McInnes
Postcard view of the billiard room in the Prince Edward Hotel (circa 1915)
Source: Rob McInnes
Postcard view of a double room in the Prince Edward Hotel (circa 1915)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2018-0111
Prince Edward Hotel shortly before demolition (February 1980)
Source: John Everitt Collection, S. J. McKee Archives, Brandon University, JCE-1554
Prince Edward Hotel shortly before demolition (February 1980)
Source: John Everitt Collection, S. J. McKee Archives, Brandon University, JCE-2306
Former Canadian Northern Railway depot beside the Prince Edward Hotel in the background (February 1980)
Source: John Everitt Collection, S. J. McKee Archives, Brandon University, JCE-2310Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.84675, W99.95048
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Manitoba Business: Pratt and Ross
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Abandoned Manitoba
The Prince Edward Hotel: A Vanished Landmark, Brandon Sun, 2 June 2012.
“C.N.R.’s new Brandon hotel opens on April 1,” Manitoba Free Press, 24 February 1912, page 26.
Advertisement, Manitoba Free Press, 8 June 1912, page 28.
“Workers level half of hotel,” Winnipeg Free Press, 25 February 1980, page 4.
We thank Rob McInnes and Jason Vanderhill (Vancouver Postcard Club) and the Toronto Postcard Club for providing images of the Prince Edward Hotel.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 4 June 2022
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