This Barrie 360 article is brought to you by The Queen's Hotel & Nightclub.
If you’ve spent any time downtown Barrie, you’ve probably been inside The Queen’s Hotel. Maybe for a drink, a late night on the dance floor, or a delicious meal. What you might not realize is just how much history is layered inside those brick walls.
The Queen’s Hotel has stood on Dunlop Street in one form or another for nearly 175 years. It has survived fires, rebuilds, name changes, economic shifts, and generations of owners, staff, and customers.
And today, it’s still very much alive.
After speaking with current owner Chris and spending time digging into Barrie’s historical record, one thing became clear: The Queen’s isn’t a preserved relic. It’s a working, evolving building that still carries its past in very real, physical ways.
It didn’t start as “The Queen’s” we know today
Barrie’s hotel history in the mid-1800s was busy, competitive, and constantly evolving. Hotels weren’t just places to sleep. They were social hubs, business centres, and gathering places for travellers arriving by rail or horse.
In 1856, Henry Fraser, then proprietor of The Queen’s Hotel at Mulcaster, proudly advertised its location overlooking Kempenfelt Bay, praising the fresh air, clean water, and the convenience of the Northern Railroad placing Barrie within three hours of Toronto.
“The splendid situation of the House, fronting on the beautiful Bay of Kempenfeldt – the salubrity of the air – the purity of the water – all combine to render this spot one of the most healthy and delightful! Summer retreats, and the Northern Railroad now places it within three hours of Toronto.” Ad placed in July 14, 1856 edition of Northern Advance
At the time, that kind of access mattered.
But here’s where things get interesting.
The Queen’s Hotel we recognize today is not the original Queen’s. The original Queen’s, located further east on Dunlop Street closer to Mulcaster, burned down in 1915.
What we now call The Queen’s Hotel began life in 1850 as Marks’ Hotel, named after its proprietor, Edward Marks. Marks was already well known in the area, having run the Farmer’s Arms inn and tavern (previously Carney and Crow’s Tavern) down the road at the Five Points.
Built to last, brick by brick
When Marks’ Hotel was built in 1850, Marks made the decision to use brick. That was a big deal at the time. Brick construction was expensive, and many downtown buildings were still roughcast or wood-framed. But the decision would prove to be a wise one as devastating fires regularly swept through parts of downtown Barrie and it wasn’t until 1871 that bylaws would prohibit new wood construction.
“The oldest feature in the building would be the bricks … they're all original,” Chris, the current owner of The Queens shares.
The original bricks can be seen when driving past the building and are featured throughout the interior. When you walk through the door on the sports side, you are actually entering the old carriage way that used to exist between two of downtown’s buildings and if you look at the floor as you come up to the bar, you will notice the beer shoot that goes straight down to the basement.
More than meets the eye
The bricks and carriage way aren’t the only parts of the original structure that remain intact. Chris explains that up on the third floor, you can still see the three by four studs from the 1800’s along with a number of historical features.
“There’s hand hewn beams, wrought iron hand pounded nails, forged nails. I mean, it's just amazing the history that's inside this building from the bricks right through to the plumbing.” Chris continues, “There's old knob and tube that's disconnected. There's copper pipes, there's stainless steel claw tubs, stainless steel sinks, wrought iron sinks. It's just amazing to see the history and the heritage that still exist in this building today.” You can even find the original honeymoon suite staircase to its private little area.
There's a lot downstairs in the basement too. Chris shared, “The original boiler still is down there ... it's disconnected, but it is creepy. It's a basement that's built with old stones, not concrete or foundation. It's a neat little transition from bottom to top. And you get every era, every build, everything you could think of. And we've had a few ghost tours, and it's been kind of very neat to get everybody's input on what they think of the building.”
A change of hands
In 1854, Marks leased the hotel to John Elgie of the Lake Elgie Hotel in Toronto. Elgie wallpapered, painted and refurnished the hotel before changing the name to Barrie Hotel. The hotel was then leased out to Daniel Farrager in 1858, before John McWatt, Marks son-in-law, began operating the hotel in 1866. (At the time, McWatt was the Mayor of Collingwood and left without resigning).
“The Travelling Community will find this establishment suited to their requirements and deserving of their patronage. Sample Rooms for Commercial Travellers. Excellent Stabling connected with the house.” – Ad for The Barrie Hotel in the April 12, 1966 edition of the Examiner
Over the next few years, operations changed hands again from McWatt to Alfred Arnell in 1872 and Thomas Skelsey in 1896 before closing in 1897. During this time, the respective owners added 30 new rooms and the second storey veranda.
A fire that changed everything
What happened after the Barrie Hotel closed in 1897 is not well documented but there are articles mentioning advertised upgrades in 1913 including a new roof, a veranda and new wallpaper. So it can only be assumed that ownership changed hands at least once more and the hotel was reopened.
It wasn’t until 1915 that the story of the Barrie Hotel picks up again.
In the early hours of the morning on February 10, 1915 a fire tore through the original Queen’s Hotel block near Mulcaster in the early hours of the morning. At first the fire seemed manageable but it quickly became catastrophic. Flames raced up interior wooden joists and burst through upper windows.
The roof collapsed inward. The entire block was destroyed.
What followed was more than a decade of legal disputes, insurance wrangling, tax issues, and stalled redevelopment. The charred remains sat for years, frustrating nearby business owners and leaving a scar on Dunlop Street.
Following The Queens fire, Thomas and Richard Lowes began renovating the Barrie Hotel. They added beds, refurnished every room, and updated the dining room. They then reopened the hotel in 1924 as The Queen’s Hotel.
From hotel rooms to dance floors
For decades, The Queen’s continued to operate as a full hotel under various ownership, offering large, airy bedrooms, private sitting rooms for families, fine dining, quality spirits, and even stables for horses.
That changed in the 1970s.
Future Barrie mayor Rob Hamilton purchased The Queen’s Hotel in 1974 from Millie Campbell. Under his ownership, the building underwent one of its most defining transformations. By 1977, the hotel rooms were closed, and the focus shifted to food, drink, and entertainment.
And while you may not realize it from the inside, The Queen’s is actually three builds joined together, constructed in phases. You can still see where one ends and another begins.
One side of the building became a disco, complete with an illuminated dance floor and dance competitions that drew crowds from across the city. The other side remained a bar and restaurant space.
Those two identities still exist today, now known as the dance side and the sports bar side.
Rob Hamilton owned and operated The Queen’s for 46 years, preserving much of its history while allowing it to evolve. In 2020, he and his wife Donna sold the business, passing the torch to the current ownership.
What Lives Upstairs Now
Most patrons never go beyond the main floor. But upstairs, The Queen’s tells a different story.
Chris has spent years exploring every corner of the building, from the basement to the lofted spaces above the third floor. During demolition work, letters dating back to 1900 were found tucked into insulation. Old guest books, room keys, fans, tubs, sinks, and bed frames still exist.
He also went on to explain, “We have plans to bring back part of the hotel feature down the road depending on the state of the economy, funding, pricing, things like that. But we definitely have some plans to restore The Queen's Hotel to its grandeur and its history and have rentable rooms again.”
He continues, “Rob Hamilton, the former owner, definitely kept the history and kept a lot of things in storage. There was 38 hotel rooms that were completely full of things that he had collected or put away that we sorted through. And we have a whole room that we're going to design, which will be 1851 with everything we kept the original door, original tub, the original sink, the original bed frame that was still up there. So it will be a nice little heritage part as well.”
Ghost stories
Ask staff about the building, and you’ll probably hear about Mary. “Mary is what we consider our friendly little ghost. You'll hear toilets flush, lights will go on and off,” Chris explains. Some staff swear they’ve seen a little boy on the third floor as well.
“All the managers to this day still don't like coming here by themselves. I'm in here a lot of myself late at night locking up or maybe just siting in the office and you'll swear you hear voices. The walls are three courses of brick thick so it's not the neighbor as much as you'd like to think it is.” Chris continues, “When Rob was here, he always had three pictures behind his desk of his family and every morning the son's picture would always be turned backwards. There was little weird things like that … it's just the building has its own rattles, its own creaks and you just know you're never here alone.”
Whether you believe in ghosts or not, there’s no denying the building has a presence.
Staying the same while moving forward
Today, The Queen’s is no longer a hotel, but plans exist to eventually bring back rentable rooms when the timing makes sense. In the meantime, the focus is on good food, live entertainment, community involvement, and keeping downtown Barrie vibrant.
From street patios and live music to charity involvement and downtown events, The Queen’s continues to adapt without losing its identity.
Chris explains, “We’re not putting drywall over 200-year-old brick. This building is what it is and we just kind of roll with it.” So much so that Chris plans to change the pillars out front from an Italian looking pillar back to the barn style, based on an original photo.
It’s not a replica ... it’s real history, holding everything up.
It’s also home to generations of people in a very real way. Some staff families are now in their fourth generation working at The Queen’s. Others have been there for over 25 years.
“This building has a special place in my heart because I've been here so long,” Chris says. “But I think it's been home to a lot of people.”
After 175 years, that balance might be The Queen’s greatest achievement.
A Barrie landmark that still has stories to tell
The Queen’s Hotel has been many things over the years: tavern, hotel, disco, pub, restaurant, and gathering place. Fires couldn’t erase it. Time didn’t dull it. And generations of care have kept its spirit intact.
The bricks are old. The beams are hand-hewn. The walls are thick with history.
And if you listen closely, they still have stories to tell.
