CHIEFTAIN HOTEL

CHIEFTAIN HOTEL | 48" X 30" | Oil on canvas | 2019

Available at: KURBATOFF GALLERY, Vancouver
CHIEFTAIN HOTEL
Squamish, B.C.
48" X 30"
Oil on Canvas  
2019 

During the railway boom in the early 1900s, Squamish was a bustling and promising place. In fact, two grand hotels were built in those days, the King George Hotel (built in 1910) and the Newport Hotel (built in 1912), which is today the Chieftain Hotel. In the early days, the Newport Hotel was a popular hangout with the loggers, because owner Bob Carson allowed them to wear their caulk boots into the building. During prohibition years, Carson legally served a 2.5% alcoholic beer called “near beer”. The Newport Hotel burned down in 1956 and on the night of the fire, the whole town came out to watch. The hotel’s furniture and contents lined the street, while onlookers could hear the kegs of beer exploding inside. Mark Armstrong’s grandmother, Moonie Hartnell said: “It does my heart good to hear all those barrels of beer blowing up”. The hotel’s regulars didn’t necessarily agree with her sentiment. The Chieftain Hotel was built on the ashes of the Newport Hotel in 1958, its neon sign was made famous by numerous movies and TV series filmed on its location such as TV series ‘Men in Trees”, “Supernatural Season 4”, “Horns ”in 2013, TV series “The Returned” in 2014, “Insomnia” and many other productions.