The Grand Forks Hotel was a prominent roadhouse during the Klondike Gold Rush, situated near

Dawson City Dawson City, officially the City of Dawson, is a town in the Canadian territory of Yukon. It is inseparably linked to the Klondike Gold Rush (1896–99). Its population was 1,577 as of the 2021 census, making it the second-largest town in Yuko ...

in the

Yukon Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...

region of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Background

In 1897, large amounts of

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

were discovered in the Yukon, prompting huge numbers of prospectors to travel to the remote region, an event that is known as the Klondike Gold Rush.

Belinda Mulrooney Belinda Mulrooney (1872–1967) was an entrepreneur and purportedly the "richest woman in the Klondike". She made one fortune in the Klondike Gold Rush, lost it, and amassed a second, which lasted most of the rest of her life. Biography Mu ...

, a small-time businesswoman, arrived in Dawson City that year, intending to import goods and establish her own enterprises. She established a restaurant and a shop in the city and a business building homes for the immigrant prospectors. Mulrooney began to investigate opportunities outside Dawson City, along the creeks where the gold was being mined and decided that the spot where the Eldorado Creek met the

Bonanza Creek Bonanza Creek (Hän: ''Ch'ö`chozhù' ndek'') is a watercourse in Yukon Territory, Canada. It runs for about from King Solomon's Dome to the Klondike River. In the last years of the 19th century and the early 20th century, Bonanza Creek was the c ...

would be an ideal place for a roadhouse hotel.

Structure and operation

Mulrooney's new roadhouse was a large, two-story building constructed of logs.Grey, p.116. On the ground floor was a

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

and

dining room A dining room is a room (architecture), room for eating, consuming food. In modern times it is usually adjacent to the kitchen for convenience in serving, although in medieval times it was often on an entirely different floor level. Historically ...

, with the first floor used for accommodation in the form of multiple

bunk bed A bunk bed is a type of bed in which one bed frame is stacked on top of another, allowing two or more beds to occupy the floor space usually required by just one. They are commonly seen on ships, in the military, and in hostels, Dormitory, dor ...

s.Grey, p.117. At the rear of the property were

kennel A kennel is a structure or shelter for dogs. Used in the plural, ''the kennels'', the term means any building, collection of buildings or a property in which dogs are housed, maintained, and (though not in all cases) bred. A kennel can be made o ...

s for the various

husky Husky is a general term for a dog used in the polar regions, primarily and specifically for work as sled dogs. It refers to a traditional northern type, notable for its cold-weather tolerance and overall hardiness. Modern racing huskies that mai ...

dogs used for transport in the region. Contractors were brought in from Dawson City to carry out the work, which was complete by August 1897. A separate cabin for Mulrooney was later built nearby. A

safe A safe (also called a strongbox or coffer) is a secure lockable box used for securing valuable objects against theft or fire. A safe is usually a hollow cuboid or cylinder, with one face being removable or hinged to form a door. The body and ...

in the hotel was used to store the gold typically used as money amongst the prospecting community. The timbers used to build the hotel shrunk over time, however, resulting in a numerous gaps emerging in the structure. The Grand Forks Hotel provided food, drink and accommodation to the local and visiting community. Despite chronic shortages during the winter months of the gold rush, Mulrooney was able to keep the hotel suitably stocked, with a dinner costing $3.50 and accommodation and food charged at $12; the drinks and cigars served were the most expensive in the region. Typical meals included bacon and beans and canned meats, with

moose The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult mal ...

heart and pickled nose of moose served on special occasions. The roadhouse also doubled as a trading post, a centre for storing gold and a

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

. A community grew up around the hotel and became the second largest town in the Yukon region.

End of the hotel

In 1899, the Klondike gold rush had peaked. Mulrooney decided to leave the Yukon and sold the Grand Forks Hotel in May 1899. After 1906, the town went into decline and heavy dredging equipment destroyed the site in 1911.

References

Bibliography

* * * {{Defunct hotels in Canada Hotel buildings completed in 1897 Defunct hotels in Canada Klondike Gold Rush Demolished buildings and structures in Canada Hotels in Yukon Wooden buildings and structures in Canada Demolished hotels Buildings and structures demolished in 1911