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.

Source: City of Rossland, Heritage Commission

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