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Queen's Arm Hotel

The Queen's Arms Hotel, on the southeast corner of Ontario and Waterloo streets. Though modernized, the basic structure has been retained

Queen's Arms Hotel, since 1858

Robert Johnson built the original Queen’s Arms Hotel in 1858 on land he purchased from the Canada Company. Named in honour of Queen Victoria “the graceful frame building” provided free transportation for guests to and from the railway station and stabling for close to 100 horses. John Forbes, who lived at 131 Nile St. (see Nile Street) was an original owner of the hotel.

John Corrie bought the hotel in March 1866, and it remained in the Corrie family for almost half a century. John Corrie was an member of Stratford society and, according to the 1879 Perth County atlas, the Queen’s Arms became the preferred headquarters of county councillors and politicians. John operated the hotel for a number of years and then retained managers until his son Fredrick John Corrie assumed responsibility for the hotel about 1892.

Fred Corrie

Fred Corrie was born on Jan. 21, 1862, in St. Marys, Ont., the second child of John Corrie and Mary Ann King, who both had emigrated from England and were married in Stratford on Feb. 23, 1860.

Fred Corrie began running the Queen’s Arms in 1904 and immediately rebuilt it as “The New Queen’s Arms,” which opened in 1905. The new hotel was constructed in the Neo-Classical Revival Style, characterized by the cupola on the angled corner of the building that includes a doorway that led to the original tavern.

That tavern, according to contemporary newspaper accounts, had "the finest bar in the province . . . built of massive quarter-cut oak.” The hotel was lit through by a combination of electric and gas lamps. The restaurant was decorated in an oriental style, fashionable at the time, and the second- and third-floor hallways were carpeted in red velvet. There were bathrooms and lavatories on each floor, with hot and cold running water. In the 45 spacious guest rooms were Belgian carpets. The rooms rented for $1.50 to $2 per day. Fred sold the hotel in 1914. Source: Stratford-Perth Archives

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