Hotels/Inns in Waterdown and East Flamborough

WEFHS July 8, 2022

Originally Published in Heritage Happenings, March 1993
These articles are reprinted as they were originally published. No attempt has been made to correct or update the content. If the topic interests you, we encourage you to do further research and/or reach out to us for any updates or corrections which may have been done since the original publication date.

From the earliest days, hotels, taverns and inns have been part of the social history of the Waterdown-East Flamborough area. As a result of the area’s proximity to the Head of the Lake and location along the first highway, Dundas Street, these establishments were among the early buildings that appeared in the communities of East Flamborough.

This Heritage Paper lists the inns and hotels that are known to have existed in the area. A similar list will be published in the next Heritage Paper covering those in West Flamborough.

All this research material, together with the papers on the American House and Kirk Hotel published earlier and one on the Rising Sun Hotel, Bakersville accepted by the Ontario Genealogical Society in 1992, became part of an enormous research project on Hotels, Inns and Taverns in the Province of Ontario that the O.G.S. had undertaken.*

Waterdown

Canada and Wentworth County Directories and East Flamborough Township Assessment Rolls reveal a long list of proprietors and hotels that have operated in the area. Not all the hotel names are known or the location of the establishments, although in all probability most of those in the village of Waterdown were on or very close to Dundas Street or Main Street, the stage coach routes.

Christopher Alderson	Proprietor Union Hotel, Waterdown 1875-1885 The hotel was located on Main Street North, where the present water tower in located.
Samuel Anderson	Inn keeper, Waterdown 1841-1869 From 1865-1869 listed as Proprietor American Hotel, Dundas Street.
Abraham Baker	Proprietor Crown Inn Dundas Street, Waterdown 1865-1875. Between 1869 and 1875 known as Crown Hotel.
Henry Baker	Proprietor Royal Hotel, Waterdown 1867.
Edward Bray	Hotel keeper and Bar Tender 1875.
Stephen Casey	Proprietor Union Hotel, Waterdown 1868. Proprietor Royal Hotel, Waterdown 1875.
Samuel Cook	Hotel owner North American Hotel, Waterdown 1885-1904.
James H. Cooper	Hotel keeper North American Hotel, Waterdown 1884-1885.
William Dixon	Hostler 1875.
John Dornan	Inn keeper, Waterdown 1857.
Patrick Dornan	Inn keeper, Waterdown 1857.
Michael Doyle	Hotel keeper, Waterdown 1884-1900.
H. Dunham	Proprietor Temperance Hotel, Waterdown 1851-1853.
Elizabeth Edwards	Proprietress Prince of Wales Hotel 1875.
Henry Edwards	Tavern keeper, Dundas Street 1865. From 1867-1869 listed as Hotel Keeper/Proprietor Boadicea House.
David Griffin	Inn keeper, Waterdown 1857.
Mrs. Henry Hammond	Hotel keeper, Waterdown 1884.
Jacob Hayworth	Proprietor Union Hotel Main Street Waterdown 1865-1866.
William Heisse	Hotel keeper, Waterdown 1867. Proprietor Right House Hotel, Waterdown 1875.
Ezekiel Jones	Inn keeper, Waterdown 1853.
Patrick Kirk	Hotel Proprietor Kirk Hotel/House Waterdown 1889-1896
John H. Kirk	Hotel Proprietor Kirk Hotel Waterdown 1898-1910.
Mrs. Miles	Proprietor Royal Hotel Main Street, Waterdown 1865.
Charles Sealey	Proprietor Farmer’s Inn, Waterdown 1857.
Thomas Stuart	Proprietor North American Hotel, Waterdown 1875.

Bakersville

John Baker

Proprietor Rising Sun Hotel c.1850-1899.

The hotel was one of the stops for stage coaches running between Hamilton and Milton.

*The Rising Sun Hotel still stands, now serving as a private residence.*

Carlisle

Barney Brown

Proprietor of the hotel located on the south corner of the village square that was a stop for stage coaches running between Hamilton and Milton. Mrs. Brown was noted for serving splendid meals to travellers.

Closed in 1911 when the Local Option came into effect in East Flamborough Township, but reopened as a Temperance house by William Hopkinson.

Clappison Corners

The small settlement at the intersection of Highways #5 and #6 grew up around the hotel that served the stage coaches, and took its name from the family who constructed the frame hotel building that dated from c.1850. Prior to demolition by the Deparment of Highways during the 1950s, it had stood vacant for many years.

Henry Clappison	Hotel Owner 1850-1860.
Thomas Clappison	Hotel Owner 1860-1884.
Mrs. Clappison	Hotel Owner 1884-1886.

An early, presumed 1920s, view of Clappison Corners, taken just east of the intersection, looking west toward the Clappison Hotel.
HPL Local History & Archives, Black Mount Collection

Editor’s Note:

*While this research project is now nearly 30 years past, we still welcome any new information regarding hotels, inns, or taverns. Should you have any material that would be of interest to the Society, please contact the Archivist.