Rossin House Hotel was a mid-19th century hotel located at the southeast corner of King Street and York Street in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Canada. The original structure was built in 1856 and was destroyed by a fire and re-built in 1863. It was one of the city's pre-eminent hotels, with one 1866 guide claiming, "What the Fifth Avenue Hotel is to New York, and the

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

is to Montreal, so the celebrated Rossin House is to Toronto." The five-storey hotel was renamed the Prince George Hotel in 1909 after the future monarch,

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. Born duri ...

. It was demolished in 1969 to make way for the architect

Mies van der Rohe Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. Along with Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloyd ...

Toronto-Dominion Centre The Toronto-Dominion Centre, or TD Centre, is an office complex in the Financial District, Toronto, Financial District of downtown Toronto owned by Cadillac Fairview. It serves as the global headquarters for its anchor tenant, the Toronto-Dominio ...

, with the corner being further developed in 1984 for The Standard Life Centre.

Upscale

While it is always difficult to define what exactly constitutes "upscale", a surviving dinner menu from Friday, April 9, 1869, with its wine list, provides a valuable insight and is striking when it is considered that only 50 years earlier, Toronto was a muddy imperial backwater. The list includes a selection of

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

claret Bordeaux wine ( oc, vin de Bordèu, french: vin de Bordeaux) is produced in the Bordeaux region of southwest France, around the city of Bordeaux, on the Garonne River. To the north of the city the Dordogne River joins the Garonne forming the ...

" wines, such as a "Barton & Gestier

Château Margaux Château Margaux (), archaically La Mothe de Margaux, is a wine estate of Bordeaux wine, and was one of four wines to achieve ''Premier cru'' (first growth) status in the Bordeaux Classification of 1855. The estate's best wines are very expens ...

1847" at $3 a bottle (approximately equivalent to $80 today). Champagnes included Moët et Chandon's "Green Seal" (aka "Grand Imperial") for $2.50, which was considered an example of "the best of the best";
The Perfect Gentleman, Or, Etiquette and Eloquence
', 1860 for comparison, Moët et Chandon premium

Dom Pérignon Dom Pérignon (; ) is a brand of vintage Champagne. It is named after Dom Pérignon, a Benedictine monk who was an important quality pioneer for Champagne wine but who, contrary to popular myths, did not discover the Champagne method for making ...

Champagne retailed in 2008 for approximately $220 CDN.

Notes

The famous 1856–57 panorama photos of Toronto by Armstrong, Beere & Hime – some of the earliest known photos of the city – were taken from the roof of the Rossin House. These photos include views of Toronto's harbour, its early railways, Osgoode Hall, its street and typical architecture of the day – a must-see for those curious about Toronto's history.

Popular culture

Josef Gungl wrote a piano piece entitled the "Rossin House Gallop".

References

External links

{{coord, 43.6478, N, 79.3830, W, display=title Hotel buildings completed in 1856 Hotel buildings completed in 1863 Hotels in Toronto Defunct hotels in Canada Demolished buildings and structures in Toronto Burned buildings and structures in Canada Rebuilt buildings and structures in Canada Buildings and structures demolished in 1969 Demolished hotels