Edmonton History

By: Ryan Krawchuk Iconic on the landscape of Whyte Avenue is the Strathcona Hotel. You cannot help but notice this regal building if you travel through Old Strathcona in Edmonton.

By: Ryan Krawchuk If you lived in Edmonton for any small part of your life, especially if you lived in the north end of the city, you have heard about the Transit hotel. If you are over the agent of 40, you might even have some interesting stories to go with it; remember the gerbil races of the 90s?

The Hotel Macdonald was designed by the infamous firm of Ross & Macdonald and later built by the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway in 1915. Built as a railway hotel, this building was designed to impress, with seven-stories, copper dormers, high pitched irregular rooflines, finished with Indiana limestone, corbelled balconies, and many turrets and finials. Sparing no modern conveniences: electric elevators, dumbwaiters, modern heating and ventilation.