The Queen's Royal Hotel was built in 1887 by John Gordon, who originally built it as a private residence for himself. It was located on the south east corner of ain Street and Huron East and was later turned into a hotel by Mr. Gordon.
The corner of Main Street and Huron East is the site of the new Beggs Funeral Home, constructed 2009-2010. The Funeral Home was previously located on River Street.
The Queen's Royal Hotel went through many changes and in 1934 Bill Phillips moved part of the building to the back of the lot where he used it as a garage and he built the gas station at the front of the lot. The gas station was later sold to Gregory's who operated it for years.
The block between Huron and Lorne Street along the east side of Main had various businesses situated there over the years including the Queen's Royal Hotel, which later became the O'Connor Hotel, a chinese laundry, Phillip's Gas Station and Garage (later known as Gregory's) and others.
Archie Gray's Tailor Shop was originally located directly next to the Queen's Royal Hotel. Mr. Gray purchased the lot in 1892 and carried on his business there for approximately 10 years, after which he sold to Bridge Brothers who used the space for storage. This was also the site of the very first Methodist Church in Thessalon.
Abe Ansara purchased the building to establish a restaurant as well as a bowling alley next door. When Mr. Ansara died, Jimmy Stopes took ownership of the building and the space was known as Stope's Snack Bar, Jimmy's Restaurant, The Horn of Plenty.
Mr. Stopes business survived the fire of 1963 that burned everything to the north of it although it did sustain some damage from water and smoke. After the fire in 1963, Jones built the Red & White Foodmaster building which took approximately half the lot for the store and the other for parking.
The block between Huron and Lorne Street houses only two buildings now, with the Funeral Home newly opened on the corner and the combined Town of Thessalon Municipal Offices and the Thessalon Union Public Library.
This chart shows the location and changes in the businesses located along this block.
