Windsor Hotel Trout Lake

The community had such grand beginnings that it quickly earned the title of city. Even now you might hear it called by that name, but the tiny population present day might leave you scratching your head. Where’s the skyscrapers and international airport? Where’s the damn Starbucks?! Born out of a mining boom in the 1890s, the historic Windsor Hotel hearkens back the early days of Trout Lake City, in British Columbia’s Lardeau region, and this splendid old structure is today’s subject.

It’s seen good times and bad (lots of the latter) yet it’s otherwise little changed from long ago.

Trout Lake was founded in the early 1890s after spectacular mineral deposits were discovered in the surrounding area. Those towering mountains held riches and the town soon grew and prospered. Grand aspirations were realized early on and for a while the sky was the limit, but then it all came crashing down. By the 1910s the hills were quiet and the community entered its next phase, that of a sleepy little backwater no one visited or spoke of.

Even after it tanked, mining continued in area, but at a much reduced scale. Some new discoveries were made, but they never rivalled those from earlier times and even today some limited exploratory work continues. The ore here is usually a mix of silver, lead, zinc, copper and gold. Is the next big find right around the corner? Some would say a resounding yes, while others might be skeptical. All the while, the town remains a shadow of its former self and it seems the party ended long ago.

You’ve arrived in Trout Lake BC!

Trout Lake’s population peaked around 1900, with a thousand folks calling it home, but a mere twenty years later it had dropped to under a hundred. In more recent times, the 1950s-1960s period, the population could be counted on two hands (maybe), but there’s has been a rebirth of sorts the last few decades and there’s more people here now than there’s been in ages. Records shows about 30-40 full time residents live here (reports differ) and many others who do it seasonally.

Even peak tourist season, it’s a sleepy place and instead of miners and prospectors like in the past, it’s those seeking outdoor adventure who congregate in the hills. Even with this, Trout Lake City has flirted with ghost town status most of the last hundred years.

The Windsor opened in 1897 and was one of several hotels in town of the era. Competition came from the Lakeview (latter Madden House), Queens, Park and the Trout Lake City Hotel, all of which closed or were gone by the 1920s. While the Windsor was not the first such enterprise here, it’s is the last and has held that position for a century.

When built, at a cost of $5000, it was said to be the finest accommodations in all the Kootenays*. The second floor is fronted by a veranda spanning the entire width of the building and has always been a great spot to look out over the world. It’s still very much a frontier mining town hotel, even today.

An early advertisement for the Windsor reads: “…The house is plastered from cellar to garret and all the rooms are neatly and tastefully furnished. The Dining room is supplied with all the delicacies of the season. The Bar is furnished with the best and most palatable of wet groceries. Everything is first class.” Garret = upper floor and wet groceries = booze!

There was also a Windsor Hotel in nearby Ferguson (now a ghost town) but we don’t note any connections between the two. It was a common name for hotels at the time and that it’s shared by two in the area is likely a coincidence.

When new, the Windsor housed a large billiard hall on the main floor. Pool was big business back then and it seemed every town had a place to play. We’re not sure where it was inside, but now a sitting room, dining hall plus kitchen, and check in area occupy that space. The funny money wall is a hoot and wandering about might have you thinking you’ve traveled back in time. You can feel the history.

The hotel’s had many owners and this includes the infamous Alice Jowett who ran it for close to forty years starting in 1907. Well loved in the community, she made the Windsor an oasis of civility in what was an otherwise a rough miner’s camp and known to put on a good spread come meal time. On her retirement in 1946, a big group of friends came from far and wide to wish her goodbye.

Jowett earlier ran the Trout Lake City Hotel once located right across the street. She also dabbled in prospecting in the 1910s-1920s period and it’s suggests this was done in hopes an ore discovery could help underwrite hotel operations to some degree. The Windsor was her love but rarely profitable, except in the very early days. Nothing much came of her holdings even if some test mining took place. Alice later moved to the Okanagan region and passed on at over a hundred.

The Windsor weathered prohibition (1917-1921 in BC) the Great Depression, fires in town and the long quiet stretch lasting more than a century with nothing going on in area. Boom and bust cycles are nothing in the mining circles, but here it was particularly noteworthy.

So the people moved away, leaving a few hangers-on, and visitors to town became rare, yet the Windsor somehow survived. Year after year and decade after decade. It’s been closed for periods and at times functioned as crew house for a sawmill, but even today one can still book a room. It no longer functions as a hotel in the traditional sense but more like a B&B or Lodge. You need to call ahead and they tend to cater to groups.

A photo from the 1970s shows the hotel in a sorry state. I guess it was still functioning as a business at the time, although looking at it might have you questioning that. Interestingly, the Windsor only got wired for electricity not all that long ago – power was a late comer to the valley.

This area is a favourite with snowmobilers come winter (the snow pack is insane) and that’s when the hotel is usually most busy. It also popular with motorcycles groups on summer weekends but on our mid-week visit things were quiet, Besides ourselves, the only other patrons were a small group from that two-wheeler fraternity.

Our time at the Windsor in Trout Lake played out like this:
1) A walk to the lake to take in some mountain scenery. Spectacular!
1a) Watching for bears on said walk (they’re everywhere).
2) A delicious homemade dinner and breakie next morning was yummy too.
3) Wine on the veranda along with a leisurely photo tour of the hotel.
4) A few exterior shots between rain showers (and more wine) at twilight.
4a) BIGDoer-mobile photobomb – see it?
6) Looking up at the darkest sky on the planet and that’s followed by the best night’s sleep ever.

There’s not a sound to be heard come nightfall and this is a welcome change from the usual hustle and bustle in our lives. We don’t hate the city, but this is paradise. No one’s about and the entire town, no the entire world, seems like its just ours.

Here’s the stunning view west.

The charm of the Windsor is that it’s little changed since built. The rooms are modest and simple, and there’s no distractions, so it’s a place to recharge. In the old days it was patronized by those in search of mineral wealth, but now it’s folks seeking fun in the hills or a maybe just a little R’n’R. The reasons for staying may have changed, but the hotel is timeless.

There’s a store/gas station in Trout Lake (with old-fashioned globe pumps) and a coffee stop we’re not sure is ever open, both down by the highway, and that’s it for the business district. We did see a signage on a house just a few doors down from the hotel (the former Moore residence that once belonged to a friend) that suggests someone is planning to open an ice cream/treats shop there. Here, in a town with a tiny population out in the middle of the wilderness? I know, how odd.

The morning comes and we’re gone but we’ll be back to visit TLC and the Windsor Hotel. That’s for certain.

*The Kootenays, east and west are a rugged mountainous region in SE British Columbia. Now you know!

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Ymir, Friday Nights – Hanging with the locals in this former mining town.
The Notorious American Hotel – A bad reputation.

If you wish more information on what’s seen here, don’t hesitate to: contact us!

Date of Adventure: July, 2021.
Location(s): Trout Lake in beautiful British Columbia.
Article references and thanks: The kind folks at the Windsor Hotel, the Centennial Series Book Circle of Silver, the Arrow Lakes Historical Society and BC Ministry of Mines.

And now welcome to the Windsor Hotel.

It dates back to the mining boom of the 1890s.

You can feel the history.

The sitting room.

Passing by the front desk.

And on to the dining room.

The hotel’s all ours (almost).

It’s the little details.

The wall of funny money.

Some oldies here.

Picture yourself here a century ago.

Sit down with a glass of wine and waste away the evening.

It wasn’t looking so good in the ’70s.

Between showers, here’s the Windsor in all its glory.

It’s a quiet night in TLC.

The stuff of nightmares on the morning walk.

A final look before hitting the road…