Accommodation and refreshment.

Details of Site Location: What is now 64 Front Street East.

PDM: TBA

Boundary History: On the original shoreline, the hotel occupied half an acre.

Current Use of Property: The Market Square condominium at the northeast corner of Front and Church.

Historical Description: Of all of the city’s early hotel structures, this one was among the most unusual. It was constructed at the shoreline just west of the Market, and intended to attract passengers getting off boats at the wharves and docks in the area. Its truly distinguishing feature is that the hotel was designed to resemble a landlocked or moored steam packet and, as such, could claim no competition. Most hotels of the period were simple two-storey structures of frame covered with clapboard; it was their names and services that distinguished them. But the Steamboat Hotel was not content to merely look different; it boasted, in 1828, of excellent food. Visitors could eat a meal, then visit an “upper deck,” which was constructed above the lower verandah, and watch activity in the harbour. The “upper deck” was, in fact, a second-floor verandah that ran the length of the building. Proprietor Ulick Howard leased the building in June 1829 to John Bradley, who immediately announced that he had obtained the services of Mr. Dixon as chef. Dixon had served the Governor for three years, and “other gentlemen of the first respectability in the provinces” before that. The hotel offered fine dining as its chief attraction, and sold wines and liquors as well. The accommodation boasted of being elegant and extensive. The harbour was becoming increasingly industrialized, and infilling of the shoreline began in 1835. As the hotel found itself away from the new shoreline, after a few years its sign was removed. By 1852, it had become the City Hotel under a new owner.

Relative Importance: In Toronto’s hospitality industry, the Steamboat Hotel has a special place, and was certainly remarked upon in its own time.

Planning Implications: A plaque is recommended for its site, partly to assist the public in learning about the hotel and partly to assist in defining the position of the shoreline of the early 19th century.

Reference Sources: City of Toronto Archives; Edwin C. Guillet, Pioneer Inns and Taverns.

Acknowledgements: Maps Project.