Description of Historic Place

Constructed in 1830, the St. George Hotel is a Georgian-style stone building located at the corner of Harvey and Drummond streets. This two-storey structure is a large and imposing building located in the earliest part of Perth.

The St. George Hotel has been recognized for its heritage value by the Town of Perth, By-law 2524, on 24 January 1984.

Heritage Value

The St. George Hotel had a direct relationship to the economic and social development of Perth. Constructed in 1830 by John Doran, a native of Wexford, Ireland and one of the earliest settlers of Perth, this Georgian-style structure was constructed as a private home. However, by 1832, the building had been converted to a hotel by William Cross, a Perth Innkeeper, who advertised in the Bathurst Courier that he had moved to a “Commodious Stone House” and would supply his guests with “choice liquors of all kinds” and a larder stocked “in the good old English style.”

From 1832 to 1873, St. George's Hotel was one of many hotels to serve Perth being renamed in 1851, to Patterson's Hotel by the new owner, James Patterson. James had the building newly fitted for travelers or permanent boarders, with comfortable quarters at moderate charges. Sign and carriage painter, James Morrison lived in the house and operated his business in this location from 1874 until 1898. The property has remained primarily a private residence ever since, except for the years between 1953 and 1970 when it was Perth's Jewish Synagogue.

Converted into apartments in 1986, the St. George Hotel's Georgian architecture has provided Perth with a prominent structure in its heritage streetscape. Its location and size make it a conspicuous and familiar landmark in downtown Perth.

Sources: Katherine Ashenburg, “Going to Town: Architectural Walking Tours in Southern Ontario,” (Toronto: Macfarlane Walter and Ross, 1996) 122-123. Town of Perth By-law 2524, Heritage Perth.

Character-Defining Elements

Character defining elements that reflect the heritage value of the St. George Hotel include the:
- front facade constructed with even-coursed sandstone
- sides and rear facades constructed of random rubblestone
- deep hip roof
- cut stone voussoirs and plain stone lugsills
- Palladian window above entrance
- recessed front entrance and trim details
- 12/12 sash windows
- symmetry of the Georgian style
- its orientation to the Bathurst District Court House and St. James Anglican Church in the area of Perth's earliest settlement