The Russell House hotel was the most high-profile
hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...
in
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada for many decades. It was located at the corner of Sparks Street and Elgin Street, where Confederation Square is located today. The original building was built in the 1840s. Additions were made in the 1870s and the original building replaced in 1880. It closed in 1925 and was demolished in 1928.
History
The
Second Empire hotel was located at the southeast corner of
Sparks Street and
Elgin Street. A small hotel was first built there in the 1840s and was named Campbell's Hotel after its proprietor. In 1863, it came under the ownership of James Gouin, who named it the Russell House after a family in the United States he managed a hotel for, in Quebec City. Gouin later built the Caledonia Springs Hotel, a famous spa in eastern Ontario, and was appointed Ottawa Postmaster by Sir John A. Macdonald.
Ottawa's status as the capital of the new country created a pressing demand for hotel space. A new wing housing the dining room was built during the 1870s along Elgin Street. The original hotel was torn down and replaced in 1880, in the "Second Empire" style.
For many decades the Russell House served as Ottawa's foremost hotel. Most Canadian politicians from this era spent time at the Russell House, and
Wilfrid Laurier
Sir Henri Charles Wilfrid Laurier, ( ; ; November 20, 1841 – February 17, 1919) was a Canadian lawyer, statesman, and politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911. The first French Canadian prime minis ...
lived there for ten years before moving to
Laurier House
Laurier House (french: Maison Laurier) is a National Historic Site in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (in the Sandy Hill district). It was formerly the residence of two Canadian prime ministers: Sir Wilfrid Laurier (for whom the house is named) and Will ...
. International guests included
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...
and
Anna Pavlova
Anna Pavlovna Pavlova ( , rus, Анна Павловна Павлова ), born Anna Matveyevna Pavlova ( rus, Анна Матвеевна Павлова; – 23 January 1931), was a Russian prima ballerina of the late 19th and the early 20th ...
.
On two occasions, important sport-related events occurred at the Russell House. In 1876, Ottawa's first rugby football team, the "Ottawas", was organized at Russell House, and play its first game three days later. The club would evolve to become the
Ottawa Rough Riders
The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine ...
football club. In 1892, at a dinner at the Russell House to honor the
Ottawa Hockey Club
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core of ...
, Governor-General
Lord Stanley announced he would offer a trophy to the top Canadian ice hockey team, the genesis of the
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...
.
In 1912, the
Château Laurier
The Fairmont Château Laurier is a hotel with 429 guest rooms in the downtown core of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, located near the intersection of Rideau Street and Sussex Drive and designed in a French Gothic Revival Châteauesque style to comple ...
succeeded the Russell as Ottawa's premier hotel. Money was spent on renovations in the 1920s, but the hotel had declined due to age and its closure was announced on September 1, 1925. Some of the reasons listed were the high cost of heating the structure, and the higher number of staff to operate the hotel, compared to a newer facility. The Russell House closed permanently on October 1, 1925.
Ground-level shops remained open, but the hotel was emptied. On April 14, 1928, a fire broke out in the hotel,
and the hotel was mostly destroyed. The remains of the structure were demolished by November. The
Government of Canada
The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...
had been in the process of buying the property when the fire occurred, and the government used the land to expand Elgin Street to create
Confederation Square
Confederation Square (french: Place de la Confédération) is an urban square in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and is considered the second most important ceremonial centre in Canada's capital city, after Parliament Hill. Roughly triangular in area ...
. Various artifacts of the hotel are on display at the
Bytown Museum
The Bytown Museum (French: Musée Bytown) is a museum in Ottawa located in the Colonel By Valley at the Ottawa Locks of the Rideau Canal at the Ottawa River, just below Parliament Hill. Housed in the Commissariat Building, Ottawa's oldest remain ...
.
File:Old Russell House Ottawa.jpg , The original hotel with new wing on right
File:Building the Russell House Ottawa.jpg , Construction of new main building in 1880
File:Ottawa Russell House Dining Room 1884.jpg , Dining room in 1884
File:Ottawa Russell House Drawing Room 1884.jpg , Drawing room in 1884
File:Russell Hotel Fire 1927 Ottawa.jpg , Ruins after fire in 1928
See also
*
Confederation Square
Confederation Square (french: Place de la Confédération) is an urban square in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and is considered the second most important ceremonial centre in Canada's capital city, after Parliament Hill. Roughly triangular in area ...
, a square containing the War Memorial has historical information of the area with Russell Hotel highlights.
*
Lord Stanley's Gift Monument
The Lord Stanley's Gift Monument is a monument in Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It commemorates the donation of the Stanley Cup ice hockey championship trophy by Canada's Governor-General Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby, the Lord Stanley ...
, monument at Sparks and Elgin commemorating the donation of the Stanley Cup
References
External links
Photograph:Russell House Hotel, 1907- McCord Museum
The Russell House Hotel
{{Defunct hotels in Canada
Hotel buildings completed in 1880
Hotels in Ottawa
Defunct hotels in Canada
Demolished buildings and structures in Ottawa
Burned buildings and structures in Canada
1880 establishments in Ontario
Hotels established in the 1840s
1928 fires in North America
1928 disestablishments in Ontario
Buildings and structures demolished in 1928