The Fairmont Banff Springs in 1890

In a setting described by seasoned travelers of the 1890's as superior to that of Switzerland, Canadian Pacific's Banff Springs Hotel represented the first major effort by the company to capitalize on the tourist potential of the mountain wilderness along its new transcontinental railway in British Columbia and western Alberta. Located at the base of Sulphur Mountain on a site later occupied by the North Wing of the present hotel, the original building shown here was designed by Bruce Price, the architect responsible for the company's Windsor Street station and headquarters in Montreal and, later, the Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City. The new hotel was opened to guests in the summer of 1888 and by the turn of the century was recognized as one of the three best mountain hotels in North America. While the success of the Banff Springs more than exceeded the company's expectations, it also overwhelmed the hotel's capacity and several additions over the next ten years did little to alleviate the problem of insufficient accommodation. In 1911 CP began a long-term program, completed in 1928, to replace the aging wooden structure with the larger concrete and steel hotel standing today.