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The Queen’s Hotel stands on the site of an early store owned by George Hubertus. In 1859, John Stevenson, a blacksmith that worked with Hewlett Eckardt at 166 Main Street, purchased the property. About 1871, taking advantage of the arrival of the Toronto and Nipissing Railway through the village, Stevenson built a brick hotel in the fashionable Second Empire style. John and Jane Webber were its first operators, known for the quality of the accommodation they provided and the excellent food offered in their dining room. A liquor license was applied for in 1873, suggesting the hotel opened for business in that year. The Webbers purchased the hotel in 1879. It was a popular stopping place for Toronto people travelling to the Markham Fair in the fall. A meeting hall known as Victoria Hall was located above the hotel drive shed. Moses Hemingway, related by marriage to the Webber family, later took over the operation of the Queen’s Hotel. The Findlay brothers, formerly of Thornhill, purchased the hotel in 1924. Talbert Findlay, a barber, had moved to Unionville ten years earlier. The Findlay barber shop moved from 161 Main Street into a shop on the main floor of the hotel, where the picture window is located. The Findlay ownership continued into the 1970s, after which the building was enlarged to provide space for retail stores on the main floor and offices above. A fire occurred in 2014, and the Queen’s Hotel was saved but required extensive restoration work inside to repair damage to the structure. |