We have all read lately of the plans to demolish the old Northland Hotel at the corner of Broad St. and Wawbeek Ave. Although it is always sad to see a historic part of our village disappear, many may not remember that the old Northland was once a successor to another early hostelry, the Canadian Hotel. 

The Canadian Hotel was built on the same location of Broad Street and Wawbeek Ave. in the late 1890s by Joseph Gauthier. Mr. Gauthier arrived in Tupper Lake in the late 1880s and worked as a logger. The hotel he built, although not magnificent in size, was known for its hospitality. It was especially popular with many of the French-Canadians who came to work in the local lumber camps. It flourished until 1926 when disaster struck and the hotel was lost to fire.  

The fire broke out on April 15^th and according Louis Simmons “the family and guest barely escaped with their lives”. The loss was estimated to be $35,000 and Mr. Gauthier had only $2,500 in insurance. He was not to be deterred, for soon after he rebuilt the hotel erecting a 24 room brick and concrete structure. He re-named the hotel the Northland and ran it successfully until 1935 when he sold out to Mr. and Mrs. Charles Abdallah. The Abdallahs made many improvements to the hotel. For many years to come, the Hotel's dinning area became a popular eatery in the Village.  

The Northland Hotel still stands today but it is in disrepair and not operational. Soon the wrecking ball will take another historic landmark into memory. We have a page for the hotel on our website at http://tupperlake.net/CanadianHotel.htm. If anyone has any old memories of this old hotel, perhaps you can set them to writing and email them to me. I’ll upload the stories to the website and make sure the stories are recorded safely for future generations to enjoy. My email address is jonkopp@tupperlake.net  :>) Jon