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Château Laurier

1 Rideau Street

Écrit par le Musée Bytown le 03-déc.-2009

A photograph of the tunnel to the Château Laurier inside Union Station, 1916
A photograph of the Château Laurier and Union Station

A true Ottawa landmark, the Fairmont Château Laurier was commissioned by Grand Trunk Railway president Charles Melville Hays, and was constructed in tandem with the Union Station with a tunnel connecting the two buildings (Union Station closed in 1966 and is now home to the Government Conference Centre). Sadly, Hays died in the sinking of the Titanic just days before the hotel's scheduled grand opening.

The hotel, named for then Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, was once referred to as “the third chamber of Parliament” due to the number of politicians that have made it their home.

From 1924 to 2004, the sixth floor of the hotel was home to the CBC's local radio stations – a legacy that began when the Canadian National Railway established Ottawa's first radio station. Yousuf Karsh, one of the world's most renowned portrait photographers, also maintained his studio and residence at the hotel for many years.

Did you ever dance at the hotel's “Grill” in the 1950s and ’60s?


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My grand father"RED"Paul-Emile Tasse was head barber at the Chateau Laurier,he was also the King's barber when in 1939 was Royal visit in Ottawa,so he went with them on the Royal train,I have some pictures of that,to bad that there's no mention of this at the Chateau,was also a good friend of Mackenzie King& Bennett,we do have newspaper clippings of all that info.

Madeleine Faucher, 31 décembre 2011

Having attended a function at the Chateau after a model Parliament event in the winter, I can say there certainly is a particular feeling of elegance and history at the Chateau that is difficult to describe effectively

Doug Chiasson, 24 juillet 2009

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Musée Bytown

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Depuis ses débuts en 1826, Bytown (la jeune ville d’Ottawa) est divisée géographiquement, avec la Haute ville à l’ouest du canal Rideau et la Basse ville à l’est. La Basse ville, délimitée à ... lire la suite