With a false-front façade, the Montreal Hotel is very much characteristic of the boom town architectural style. The two storey building has an enclosed set of stairs on the west side of the building leading up to an open porch that runs the length of the second floor. When built, the hotel had nine bedrooms, seven of which were in the attic, and a license to operate a bar room/saloon, along with a separate space for the kitchen and dining area.
The smallest hotel on record for Rossland, its rundown, unpainted ship lap sided exterior makes it one of the most recognizable landmarks in Rossland. When first built, the property was owned by a Mr. Morin, also the liquor license holder. In 1900, the building was sold to a Mr. Rumball, then not much was known about the building for three decades until the 1930s when it became the Okanagan Fruit Store (O.K. Store), which sold fruit imported from the Okanagan.
Constructed in 1896, the Montreal Hotel was perhaps Rossland’s smallest hotel with dimensions of only 24’ x 31’. It contained a saloon, a dining room and 2 club rooms on the main floor with 2 bedrooms on the 1st floor and 7 in the attic.
In the 1930s the building operated as an Okanagan fruit outlet hence the name OK Store, the last one remaining of what was once a chain of stores. Many different businesses have operated from these premises in the years since.
The building’s Western Vernacular style of architecture is characteristic of boom town buildings with its high peaked facade, false front appearance, ship lap construction and lean-to at the rear.
As an indication of our changing times, the Montreal Hotel now is home to a tattoo parlour. But then, everything new is old again as tattoos were popular 117 years ago, as well, just not in "polite" circles.
From the original historical marker
Montreal Hotel
Description of Historic Place
The Montreal Hotel is located at 2190 Columbia Avenue, on the northwest corner of Columbia Avenue and St. Paul Street in Rossland, British Columbia. It is a wooden two-storey structure with a modified false front façade. An enclosed set of stairs on the west side of the building leads up to an open porch running the length of the second floor. The historic place includes the building on its footprint.
Heritage Value
The Montreal Hotel is valued as a landmark building that has always defined the eastern edge of the downtown commercial area. It is the first historic building one sees when entering Rossland from the south on Highway 3B.
The Montreal Hotel is valued as being representative of the many smaller hotels built in Rossland in the late 1890s during the boom years of rapid mine development, construction and population growth. It had nine bedrooms, seven of which were in the attic, a City Licence to operate a bar-room (saloon) and space for a kitchen and dining area. The Montreal Hotel had one 'closet' (water closet) on its premises, also typical of the smaller hotels in Rossland at that time.
The Montreal Hotel is an example of a common characteristic of Rossland's downtown buildings in that its use has changed many times over the years, reflecting changing needs and perceived business opportunities. Many long-time Rossland residents identify the Montreal Hotel as the 'O.K. Store'. In the 1930s this building became part of the chain of stores throughout the Interior used for distribution and sale of fruit from the Okanagan. Although that business is long gone, the name persists because a number of different business ventures in this location have used the same name.
Character-Defining Elements
Key character-defining elements of the Montreal Hotel include:
- location at the entrance to the historic downtown
- false front, vernacular style
- original clapboard siding
- enclosed stairway on the outside of the building
- wooden canopy across the front of the building extending out to the edge of the sidewalk and supported by wooden pillars
- plaque by the front entrance identifying it as one of Rossland's significant historic buildings
From Historic Places Canada