The Winnipeg Hotel in 2015.

Source: City of Winnipeg long report.

The now demolished Coronation Block, seen here in 2009.

Source: Bryan Scott.

A view of Upper Fort Garry as seen from the Assiniboine River in May 1873.

Source: Manitoba Archives.

Thomas Montgomery.

Source: Manitoba Historical Society.

Looking northward at the west side of Main Street in 1892, between York Street and St. Mary Street.

Source: Archives of Manitoba.

The Cauchon Block circa 1903.

Source: Manitoba Historical Society.

St. Mary the Virgin Anglican Church in Virden, seen here in 2017.

Source: George Penner.

A image of the Winnipeg Land Titles Building at 433 Broadway in Winnipeg shortly after it was built, designed by Samuel Hopper in 1903.

Source: PastForward.

A sketch of the Winnipeg Hotel (left) and the Dominion Hotel (right) in 1881.

Source: Archives of Manitoba.

The Queen's Hotel in 1900.

Source: Archives of Manitoba.

The Winnipeg Hotel in 1903.

Source: Archives of Manitoba.

Brick veneered wood frame commercial structures such as the Winnipeg Hotel have tended not to survive due to their inability to withstand heavy fire damage, the high insurance premiums associated with such buildings, their tendency to be replaced with more substantial structures, and the structural problems presented by the brick veneer. The Coronation Block on 238 King Street that housed the Shanghai Restaurant was another such building, demolished a few years ago. You can read a CBC News article, written just prior to the demolition, here. The "Garry Saloon" was erected in the summer of 1873 as a two storey wooden frame structure built in an L-shape with a false front. Operated by a James S. Wheeler, the saloon soon came to be known as the Garry House or Garry Hotel, likely named after the (Upper) Fort Garry , from whom the land had been purchased.In the spring of 1881, Thomas Montgomery became Wheeler's partner, bringing with him the capital from a successful carriage making business he had run on Fort Street with his brother, Christopher, since 1876. After Montgomery came on board, some $9000 was spent to transform the Garry into the three storey, brick veneer fronted Winnipeg Hotel.The new Winnipeg Hotel featured fiftyseven rooms, a 70 foot iron tube well, three parlours, a modernly furnished dining room, sample rooms for salesmen, and a well-stocked bar. The hotel received its first guests in September of 1881, just after the beginning of a boom in Winnipeg's economy created by the railway and the influx of settlers heading west that followed.Buildings such as the Winnipeg Hotel, the Cauchon Block (Empire Hotel), and the never-completed Canada Pacific Hotel were built with the hope that Main Street's business district would continue to expand to the south. Unfortunately for them, this did not happen, leaving these businesses less successful than was originally hoped.Wheeler and Montgomery ceased to be partners in April of 1883, leaving the business entirely to Montgomery, who later partnered with his brother Oswald in July of 1893. Oswald Montgomery had experience operating hotels in Rat Portage (now Kenora) and Glenboro, as well as other places. By this time, unspecified renovations had reduced the original fifty seven rooms to forty five.In the fall of 1895, the Winnipeg Hotel once again underwent renovations. This time the Montgomery brothers spent approximately $20,000 and hired architect Walter Chesterton to draw up the plans. Chesterton was to be responsible for numerous other buildings in the province, including the Vaughan Street Jail and Virden's St. Mary's Anglican Church.The renovations included a new facade, constructed chiefly of Twin Cities red brick and Battle River sandstone, English plate glass windows with stained and leaded transom lights on the ground floor. A galvanized iron cornice was added on the roof level while the wooden sides were covered with a brick veneer to match the facade.These renovations were added to once again in 1901, when another $14,000 was spent on the place expand the hotel with a three storey addition at a right angle to the body of the hotel, extending it right to the back lane and increasing the capacity to eighty rooms. Samuel Hooper designed these renovations and would go on to become Manitoba's first Provincial Architect, with projects such as the Seven Oaks Monument and the Carnegie Library under his belt.From 1901-1902, hotel accommodations were at a premium in Winnipeg, so the Montgomerys purchased the former Dominion Hotel immediately to the north with hopes of expansion. The plan was to triple the size of the hotel with a five storey addition on the Dominion Hotel as well as enlarging the Winnipeg Hotel to five storeys.These plans were never put into action however, likely because the brothers decided to put their efforts into the Queen's Hotel, another of their properties, at the northeast corner of Notre Dame Avenue and Portage Avenue (part of what is now the approximate location of 201 Portage Avenue).Shortly after the purchase of the Dominion Hotel, the Winnipeg Hotel was sold to Maurice Noakes, owner of the Imperial Hotel at Main Street and Alexander Avenue, in 1904 for $125,000. He soon sold the property the Bernhart Brothers of the Palace (Sutherland) Hotel, who in turn sold it to the former owners of Brandon's Beaubier Hotel "Matt" Matthews and "Dug" Hills.After 1909, the Winnipeg Hotel saw a large number and variety of owners in rapid succession, along with many alterations including painting the facade white, likely done in the 1930s, the removal of the balcony over the front entrance, and the remodeling of the entrance in 1959. Over the years, the interior has also undergone renovation numerous times.