Queen's Royal Park is a public park located in Niagara-on-the-Lake overlooking where

the Niagara River becomes Lake Ontario. The park has been there since the early 1930s. It has

mostly grass terrain with some trees along with concrete and gravel paths. There are several

benches and a small white gazebo that all face the water. The local landscape has mostly grass on

uneven terrain. There is a lower level closer to the water that can only be accessed safely at

certain areas. At one time a hotel was on the property named Queen's Royal Hotel. The hotel

was built on the site of the park in the late 1860s to bring more money and jobs into the town.

This was a very good move considering the courthouse in the town had recently closed and left

many people unemployed. Originally named the Royal Niagara, this hotel was one of the best

hotels on the continent. The famous King George V had stayed at the hotel in 1901. Queen's

Royal Hotel had hosted the World Tennis Tournament in 1907. This tournament was renamed to

the Championship of Canada and occurred on the property annually during the final weeks of

August. The tennis courts are now a parking lot. There also was a casino and a lawn bowling

club at the location. A pathway used to exist from the hotel by the water to the Niagara Golf

Club which is the oldest useable golf club on the continent. In the late 1920s the hotel closed

down to a decline in tourism. The site was demolished in 1930. The town then bought the

property and turned it into a park. Queen's Royal Park was filmed for the 1980s movie "The

Dead Zone". The gazebo in the park was originally made for that movie. After the filming was

finished, it was donated to the park. Overtime humans have made many changes to this area such

Savard

as the hotel, tennis courts, and lawn bowling, to demolishing all of that and building a gazebo,

bathrooms, a parking lot, and a pathway along the water.

Municipality: Niagara-on-the-Lake

Local area name: Historic Old Town

Other identifying names or descriptions: N/A

Latitude and longitude: 43.25777428413611, -79.06983880578049

Physical Dimensions

Length: 1250m

Width: 815.66m

Surface Area: 19,565.07 m²

Elevation: Highest point = 82m Lowest point 75m

Queen's Royal Park is in front of where the Niagara River becomes Lake Ontario in the town of Niagara-on-the-Lake. The area is quite hilly with several large trees that have likely been there since the park was founded. The is a small white gazebo, two bathrooms, and a parking lot. The rest of the park is natural land with a few pathways, plaques, and picnic tables. The park ends at the start of Front Street, King Street, and Lake Ontario. There are also fences on two sides that separates Queen's Royal Park from the Somerset Bed and Breakfast and private property. The park can be entered from almost anywhere on foot from Front Street and King Street. Technically, it can be entered from Lake Ontario too. However, since the demolishment of the hotel and no dock, no one probably enters from there anymore.

Map 1: Queen's Royal Park is located next to Front and King Street. It is in front of Lake Ontario.

Image 1: The Queen's Royal Hotel (time period unknown) Image 2 (above): Painting of the Hotel at Night

Image 3: 1934 Aerial (taken sometime after demolition)

Image 4: 2018 Aerial

Image 5: The park looking onto Lake Ontario, Old Fort Niagara and Fort Niagara State Park on the right hand side of the image taken standing on what was the hotel in 2021Image 6:View of Lake Ontario (centre) and Fort Niagara State Park (left) taken standing on what was the hotel in 2021

Architectural Heritage: Over time there has been a ;world class hotel on the property, casino, tennis courts, lawn bowling, a parking lot, bathrooms, and a gazebo. Unfortunately, the early architecture has not been preserved.

This Local Landscape Report was prepared by Tyler Savard for the Brock University course TOUR 2P94: Human Dominated Ecosystems on November 14, 2021.

All copyrights for cited material rest with the original copyright owners.

References

Picture of Queen's Royal Hotel. (n.d.). [Photograph].

Painting of Queen's Royal Hotel. (n.d.). [Photograph]. Niagara Falls Public Library.

Ascenzo, Denise. "Niagara's History Unveiled: The Queen's Royal Hotel." NiagaraNow, 02 Dec. 2017, https://www.niagaranow.com/news.phtml/219-niagaras-history-unveiled-the-queens-royal-hotel

"Queen's Royal Park." Exploring Niagara | Queen's Royal Park, www.exploringniagara.com/places_to_explore/parks_b....

"Queen's Royal Park." Niagara Greenbelt Gateway, brocku.niagaragreenbelt.com/listings/76-parks-gardens-a-conservation-areas/1043-queens-royal-park.html.

Aerial View. Niagara Navigator. https://maps.niagararegion.ca/navigator/