Dear editor:
Many people have enjoyed visiting Queen's Royal Park, but how many know that it was the site for over 60 years of a famous hotel? Why is there nothing there marking its location?
Well, there actually is a memorial plate by the steps. It was placed there by the Overseas Missionary Fellowship to mark the centenary of an 1888 speech by Hudson Taylor given in the hotel. But there is nothing for the hotel itself or about the future King George V and Queen Mary staying in the hotel in 1901. Why not?
Anyone interested in the hotel's history can learn more at the Niagara-on-the-Lake Museum.
You can also see pictures on the NOTL Lawn Bowling Club website, notlbowls.ca on the Historic Photos page.
Does anyone know there once was a green there that drew bowlers from all over Ontario? Or grass courts that hosted some of the most prestigious tennis championships of the time?
Paul McHoull
NOTL