Description of Historic Place

The National Hotel is a three-storey wood frame building featuring yellow brick cladding and red brick segmental arches over the windows. It is located on three lots in Calgary's Inglewood commercial district. The hotel is adjacent to the East End Livery Barn, which has significant historic associations with the National Hotel, but is not part of the historic site designation. A one-storey extension on the hotel's west side added in the 1950s is also excluded from the designation.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the National Hotel lies in its association with the Inglewood district, its connection to both a brewery and a livery stable, its architectural representation of a typical early Alberta hotel, and its status as a local landmark.

Calgary's Inglewood district was formed in the 1880s and was initially home to some of the city's most prominent citizens. Between the 1880s and the beginning of World War One, Inglewood grew rapidly and became home to a swelling population and several significant industries. The presence of a sawmill, slaughterhouse, brewery, and livery attracted a large working-class population to the district.

The National Hotel was constructed in 1907 and began operations in 1908, serving the area as both a district tavern and a hotel for transient workers. The hotel was close to the Canadian Pacific Railway (C.P.R.) station, the brewery, and the livery. Although hotels and liveries were often paired enterprises on the Prairies, the National Hotel and the East End Livery Barn are a rare example of this combination still standing in Alberta.

The hotel reflects the Edwardian commercial style of architecture typical of many early Alberta hotels built in urban, working-class neighbourhoods. The classical emphasis of this style is evident in the upper pressed tin cornice and the red brick segmental arches. The sandstone foundation and yellow brick cladding both testify to the use of local materials in the building's construction. These features, as well as the building's rich history, have made the National Hotel a significant landmark in the Inglewood district of Calgary.

Source: Alberta Culture and Community Spirit, Historic Resources Management Branch (File: Des. 2093)

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the National Hotel include such features as:
- form, scale, and massing;
- sandstone foundation on east and south elevations and a portion of the west;
- yellow brick cladding, red brick quoins and segmental arches over windows;
- pressed tin cornice;
- fenestration pattern, including double-hung window arrangement;
- principal character-defining facades, facing east and south.