Prince of Wales Hotel (Waterton): Historical Handbook
https://collections.galtmuseum.com/link/descriptions96514
- Description Level
- Item
- Accession No.
- 20161106
- Physical Description
- 1 cm manuscript (paper copy and electronic PDF format)
- Scope and Content
- A Historical Handbook for the Employees of PRINCE OF WALES HOTEL The handbook contains a brief history of the Prince of Wales Hotel, a discussion of its architectural style and elements, personalities and historical timeline (20 pages)
- Description Level
- Item
- Creator
- Glacier Park Foundation
- Physical Description
- 1 cm manuscript (paper copy and electronic PDF format)
- History Biographical
- The idea of a resort hotel in Waterton was conceived by Louis Warren Hill Sr., then chairman of the Great Northern Railway, and finally realized in 1926 after the end of Prohibition in Alberta. This was part of the plan to lure American tourists to Glacier and then north across the U.S.-Canada border to Alberta. The hotel was opened on July 25, 1927 and was promoted as epitome of luxury in the wilderness with steam-heated rooms, hot and cold running water, electricity, a full service dining room, an elevator, laundry, beauty parlor and barber shop, all overseen by professional and uniformed staff and a tavern to serve beer to thirsty Americans. The bustling community of Waterton Park got a shock when the Great Northern didn’t open the Prince of Wales Hotel in 1933, with the railway citing the downturn in economic conditions caused by the Great Depression. The railway said it would not reopen the hotel until a more direct route was built between Waterton and Glacier, versus all bus traffic having to go via Cardston. Construction of Chief Mountain International Highway was undertaken as a work relief project and completed in 1936, when the railway kept its promise and reopened the hotel. The new route between the parks was shorter and more scenic. The hotel would again be closed, from 1942 to 1945, due to the Second World War. In December 1960, the Prince of Wales Hotel was sold by the Great Northern Railway to Glacier Park, Inc., headed by Don Hummel of Tucson, Arizona. GPI also acquired all the other railway hotel assets in Glacier. The Great Northern had long ago lost interest in the money-losing hotel chain as train passenger ridership declined in the wake of rising auto travel and tour bus trips. To make the operations profitable, Hummel severely reduced staff, became very deliberate in building maintenance, and changed services. Hummel was barely into his fourth summer of operations in 1964 when heavy rain and rapid snowmelt through Waterton and Glacier caused some of the most severe flooding in memory. The road into Waterton was under water, as was much of the commercial district of town. Waterton residents who hadn’t fled earlier were sheltered at the Prince of Wales Hotel, which had its own water and electrical supply, as well as full heating capability. The scene would be repeated in 1975 when the townsite flooded, again. Major changes would come to the Prince of Wales Hotel in 1981 when Hummel’s Glacier Park, Inc. was sold to Greyhound Food Management. GPI would be reconstituted as a new entity and after a series of shuffles, is today a division of Phoenix-based Viad Corporation. After years of delayed maintenance, GPI began a series of upgrades to the hotel. In 1996, GPI president Dale Scott, working with Calgary architect Ron Goodfellow, attempted to persuade Parks Canada to permit a major expansion of the Prince of Wales Hotel. A series of drafts were created, some looking very much like plans the Great Northern Railway had considered and then shelved in 1928. Scott presented his proposals at public and private hearings. They were rejected, in part on the basis that the view of the hotel and Upper Waterton Lake presented such an iconic image that it should not be tampered with.
- Scope and Content
- A Historical Handbook for the Employees of PRINCE OF WALES HOTEL The handbook contains a brief history of the Prince of Wales Hotel, a discussion of its architectural style and elements, personalities and historical timeline (20 pages)
- Accession No.
- 20161106
- Collection
- Archive
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