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King's Royal Hotel |
Details |
In the late 1890s, Mr. John H. McLauchlan, a son of James McLauchlan), established the King's Royal Park and a summer resort at Balmy Beach (formerly known as Bay View), Ontario, just northwest of Owen Sound. The park was opened first. "The McLauchlan Park and Balmy Beach Resort" was officially opened on July 1, 1899. The King's Royal Hotel that was soon built there (1901/1902), officially opened on July 1, 1902, and it had its own wharf and electrical-generation plant. Guests would travel there from Owen Sound, Ontario by a small ferry ship. The steamer Lillie was used first, but was deemed too small, so the steamer Mazeppa was purchased. It was replaced later with the steamer Canada (1901-1908). The ferry fare was ten cents from Owen Sound to Balmy Beach. Prior to the First World war era the hotel building was closed in 1911 for two years (due to reduced business). A Park company tried to revive its business, but it closed for good in 1915, and it was demolished in 1916, despite it being a relatively-new facility. The hotel just could not compete with the Muskoka tourist area. A lot of its furnishings were acquired by local people. There are various photographs, artifacts, documents and promotional items of the King's Royal Hotel business that have survived. Some are in the archival collection at Grey Roots. Gayle McLauchlan wrote two books, THE McLAUCHLANS OF OWEN SOUND, and BALMY BEACH 100 YEARS (1998) which also provides some information about it. A blueprint item in the Grey County archives shows the various buildings at the resort. They had a grandstand, a small museum, an athletic ground, a theatre, and other amenities. Melba Croft notes in her book GROWTH OF A COUNTY TOWN: OWEN SOUND 1900-1920, that there was a miniature railroad at King's Royal Park. The Owen Sound photographer, John James, went out to photograph it, but was rebuffed, as there was a proprietory relunctance to have it photographed (see p. 90). The hotel had polychromatic postcards produced for it. There were also tablewares and souvenir items with the King's Royal Hotel name on them. A ribbon plate souvenir showing the hotel building, was manufactured in Germany for the business. A small transfer-printed bric-a-brac cup with the hotel front shown on it, was also ordered from Germany. A thin booklet called "Prospectus of the Owen Sound Georgian Bay Park and Summer Resort Company, Limited" identified John H. McLauchlan as the President of the company, and also lists the other directors. The vice-president was David Martins Butchart. This company was also in the business of selling cottage lots in the Balmy Beach area. |
