Hotels
Belmont Hotel
The Belmont Hotel, located at 155-159 Colborne Street, was built circa 1860. According to the Brantford City Directory the hotel was known as Robinson Hall in the mid 1870s and the Brunswick Hotel in 1893. One of the owners was Fred Westbrook, a well-known local bicycle rider who also toured with the Barnum and Bailey Circus and was one of the owners of the Westbrook and Hacker Brewing Company. He bought the hotel in 1893 and ran it until 1899. There were a number of different owners through the years, including Mr. Westbrook’s daughter and her husband, Harry and Florence Bailey. Fire destroyed the hotel on May 24, 1974 (Brantford Expositor, May 24, 1974, p. 1). Approximately 44 people were living in the four-storey hotel at the time of the fire. The owners, Nick Pavicic and Mike Sekulic, had purchased the hotel in 1967. The fire caused about $250,000 damage including extensive damage to nearby businesses the Elite Shop, the Singer Sewing Machine store, Feely’s Hardware, and Heinbuck’s Used Furniture. The hotel was not rebuilt after the fire.
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Bodega Hotel
This hotel was located at the corner of Market and Darling streets where the TD Canada Trust building is now. The name of the hotel changed several times through the years from the Park House to the Prince of Wales Hotel to the Bodega Art Tavern. It became known as the Bodega Hotel in the 1940s. A fire on March 4, 1962 destroyed the top floor and the roof of the hotel with the lower three floors sustaining heavy water and smoke damage (Brantford Expositor, March 5, 1962, p. 1). Twenty-five people escaped the fire. William Kleinert and David Ashley had purchased the hotel in January 1961. Damage was estimated to be $100,000 and the hotel was torn down shortly after the fire.
Brant Hotel
Located on the south side of Colborne Street, it was in business from 1841 until it was destroyed by fire in 1853. According to the Warner's 1883 History (p. 142 of PDF), J. D. Clement ran the hotel from 1841 to 1844 and “Joe” James was running it at the time of the fire.
Brant Hotel
Another hotel that eventually became known as the Brant Hotel, located at 85 Dalhousie Street, was originally built in 1858. In the early years it was called the American Hotel and also the New American Hotel. According to the Brantford City Directory it became the Brant Hotel in 1923. In June 1960 the hotel was taken over by a group of Toronto businessmen who made extensive renovations. The renovated hotel was officially opened on April 22, 1961 by Ray Connell, Ontario Minister of Public Works and Mayor Dick Beckett. On January 31, 1962 the hotel was destroyed by fire (Brantford Expositor, February 1, 1962, p. 1). Thirty-two of the hotel’s eighty rooms were occupied at the time of the fire. Adjoining businesses, Stan Lamb’s Men’s Wear, the Imperial Bakery, and W. D. Brough, optometrist, also suffered a lot of damage. The vacant Paramount Theatre was also threatened when a wooden door at the rear of the building caught fire but fortunately that fire was put out. Damage was estimated to be $500,000. The hotel was not rebuilt and the property was taken over the by the city who turned it into a parking lot.
British American Hotel
Located at the corner of Colborne and Market streets, it was in business from 1838 until 1852 when it burned down. According to the Warner's 1883 History (p. 142 of PDF), the owners were: Pearson, W. R. Irish, J. D. Clement, Jonathan Hale, and Burley.
Commercial Hotel
Job Tripp was operating an unnamed hotel, at 126-128 Dalhousie Street across from the Market Square, when it burned in 1859. In 1861 a new hotel called the Pepper House was built on the same site. J. C. Palmer, who owned the Kerby Hotel at one time, bought the Pepper House in 1869 and changed the name to the Commercial Hotel. Palmer sold the hotel to Hiram T. Westbrook in 1872. The building was eventually turned into stores and apartments in 1912.
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Kerby Hotel
James Kerby built this hotel located at 220-236 Colborne Street. The hotel which opened on August 24, 1854 originally extended the whole length of George Street with more than 70 rooms, the largest hotel in the area. Due to a lack of business the hotel was closed from 1858 until 1865 when it was offered for sale without success. Following the Fenian Raids it was used as a barracks in 1866 by several different regiments. J. C. Palmer took over the hotel in 1872. While he was the owner he put in a stage, drop curtain, and scenery in a section of the hotel which became known as Palmer Hall. This area was later converted into additional bedrooms for the hotel. The hotel was destroyed by fire on July 29, 1976. Twenty permanent residents escaped the fire. Damage was estimated to be more than $325,000 with heavy smoke and water damage to the businesses of E. M. White, realtor, the Brantique Gift and Souvenir shop, the Central Barber Shop, Hankinson Seeds, and Countryside Fish. There was so much structural damage to the hotel that the furnishings were sold and the building was torn down.
For more information:- Expositor Semi-Centennial 1877-1927 (p. 21 of PDF)
- Expositor October 1909 (p. 78 of PDF)
- Remember 1877-1977 (p. 31 of PDF)
Prince Edward Hotel
This hotel was first operated by “Joe” James who had been in charge of the Brant Hotel which burned down in 1853. The building at 16-18 Colborne Street was originally built by A. Huntington in the 1850s to be used as stores. According to the Warner's 1883 History (p. 142 of PDF), the owners after James were Havill, Kennedy, Fraser, Fogg, Thomas Brooke, Job Bingham, Early, and Job Bingham again (p. 142 of PDF). The hotel was known for a while as Bingham House after Mr. Bingham. For several years in the late 1890s it was called the Hotel Lorne before being renamed the Vendome Hotel. In 1912 it became the Prince Edward Hotel but during prohibition it was known as the Prince Edward Apartments. According to the Brantford City Directory, it became the Best View Hotel in 1978. The building was torn down in the late eighties.
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Squires' Court Hotel
The hotel at 97-99 Dalhousie Street, originally called the Woodbine Hotel, opened in the 1890s. According to the Brantford City Directory the name was changed to the Strand Hotel in 1914. It became the Squires’ Court Hotel in the early seventies. There was a fire at the hotel in the early morning hours of October 15, 1975 (Brantford Expositor, October 15, 1975, p. 1). One man died and several people had to jump from the second floor to escape the blaze. Damage was estimated to be $500,000 and there was smoke and water damage to the adjoining businesses – Brunswick Billiards, the Brass Monkey Antique Shop, and Pauwels Travel Bureau. Lawrence Saracusa had purchased the hotel from Benjamin Grubic only three months before the fire. Mr. Grubic had remodeled the hotel in 1970 when it was still known as the Strand Hotel.
