One section of the Lougheed Hotel in Lougheed Alberta, was formerly the Armitage Hotel in nearby Sedgewick. They moved it about a century ago and that’s quite an accomplishment. It’s a twelve kilometre journey on a paved highway today, but back then it was barely more than a cart track. Last operating as the Lougheed Bar & Grill, it closed a number of years back and the old building has an uncertain future.
The hamlet of Holmstown was founded in anticipation of the railway arriving in the area in the early 1900s. This was the Canadian Pacific’s Wetaskawin Alberta to Saskatchewan line and the steel arrived here in 1906. About this time the community became Lougheed. It’s named after Senator James Lougheed and he served from the 1880s to the 1920s. He’s grandfather of Peter Lougheed, Premier of Alberta in the 1970s and 1980s.
Armitage Hotel – Lougheed Hotel Lougheed AB: moved from one town to the other in the 1920s. A Ten Minute history with Chris Doering & Connie Biggart (BIGDoer/Synd)
Thanks to “Piers Fothergill” for sponsoring this and other posts at BIGDoer.com. Be like Piers…
Lougheed achieved village status in 1911 and presently has a population of about two hundred and change. It’s been pretty steady over the years.
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Today downtown is along McLeod Avenue and there’s still a few open shops there. In the past just as many businesses were along Railway Avenue (aka Highway #13). The Lougheed Hotel is at the corner of McLeod and Railway. This put it in close proximity to the railway station at the time. For a hotel back then, this was where the action was, so it became an advantageous and coveted location.
Many hotels in other small towns are located similarly. So at the head of downtown and close to the tracks.
The hotel opened in late 1924 as the Arimitage Hotel, but used that name only briefly, before it changed to the Lougheed Hotel. A year or two tops. The Lougheed Hotel was not built here, but rather brought in from just down the road, From Sedgewick to the west. The building dates to 1907 or 1910, depending on the entry in the local history book, and once operated as the Armitage Hotel in that community.
From Sedgewick Sentinel: a History of Sedgewick and Surrounding District…
“John and Marcella Armitage built a hotel in Sedgewick in 1910, known as the Armitage. This was a temperance hotel, no booze being on tap there. The hotel was moved to Lougheed in 1920.”
The 1920 date is in conflict with what the Lougheed History Book says, so make of it what you will. But, the year 1924 also makes mention in old directories, which seems to corroborate that later date. By the numbers it’s more likely.
Temperance hotels were not unheard of, but beer was a good profit centre, so they generally didn’t last long. Interestingly Alberta prohibition ended in 1924 (it began 1916), so this hotel opened up at just the right time to cash in on the coming boom. The Beer Parlour, no doubt, did a solid business once the taps reopened.
If we were to guess, it would appear they moved the hotel here in anticipation of the liquor ban ending. By this point, it seems, any other hotels in Lougheed had already shuttered, so they’d have the market to themselves. It’s perhaps a case of opportunity knocking and I had better answer. What stood on this corner in Lougheed prior to the hotel is not known.
Why the Armitage in Sedgewick closed remains similarly unknown, but it was in competition with a couple other hotels in that community. Perhaps there was not enough business to go around?
Old photos of the Armitage Hotel back in Sedgewick show it to be much larger than the section moved. They only took the front half it seems, and most talk suggests the other section stayed in Sedgewick. We don’t know in what capacity, but there are no later listings for the Armitage Hotel, so it ceased to be at the time.
“As far as I know the Armitage Hotel was cut in half. One part stayed in Sedgewick and the other part was moved to Lougheed.” – Micha Hentschel.
The Sedgewick History Book mentions the move took many months. Presumably they spent a lot of time prepping it for the roadtrip and then putting it in place once in Lougheed. Distances are not far, but back then roads were primitive dirt (or mud) affairs and slow going was the norm. Especially considering the size and mass of the structure.
They first attempted to move it with horses, but later called in some machinery. In the old photo, the lead tractor appears to be steam powered and the distinctive front end of the second suggest a Twin Cities gas tractor. They connected the two by some kind of drawbar (we guess) to the dolly or trailer on which the hotel rode. What ever is supporting the hotel down there is not clear in the photo.
You’ll note there’s a car ahead of the hotel and it’s off to the right side. Given the width of the road (narrow) there appears to be insufficient room for it to pass. A number of people appear in the photo and the one beside the hotel (left) is presumably keeping an eye on the building as it progresses.
We can only assume the nature of the movement and the challenging roads of the day, meant they went real slow. It must have been in transit for a couple days at least.
Present day you can drive the highway doing 100 clicks, or more, and get from one town to the other in ten minutes or so. With a hotel in tow, it might take a wee bit longer…
At some point (late 1940s suggested) that addition on the right side was put in to expand the beer parlour and add more rooms above. It was a busy period and we see 1940s additions to old hotels all the time. It clearly shows up in a 1950s photo in the Molson Breweries archives. The hotel looked the same back then as it does today. That’s another Then & Now when we’re in the area!
The Lougheed Hotel has had many owners over the years (we lost count) and that’s not all that odd. It’s a tough business. They last offered rooms some time ago (1990s suggested) and it’s noted that some owners at various times lived in a suite on one of the upper floors.
The Lougheed Hotel/Lougheed Bar & Grill seemed to close about seven years ago and it’ been silent ever since. Here’s one of the last reviews before they shut down…
“For burgers, it is top notch. Even though it is a bar, it is nice and quiet. It is family friendly until 8 PM and the kids love the shuffleboard and juke box, I am told. It is solely owner operated so if a surprise rush happens you may need to have some patience but only because there is one cook and one server…but I have not experienced any problem on that front. Great job Lee and Adella.” – Denise B.
Now we know the names of the last people to operated the business.
It would appear the Lougheed Hotel was for sale at one point, but we’re not sure the current status or if anything came of this. It did not look like anyone has touched it for some time when we visited, but who knows what’s going on inside. Time will tell.
Small towns need places like this and it’d be nice to see it reborn. They’re not just watering holes, but social centres. It’d be a good subject for a Beer Parlour Project to visit and if it ever does reopen, we’ll be knocking on their door. This Then & Now historic comparison, incidentally, was shot while on the road to some Beer Parlour Project shoots in Western Saskatchewan. Keep up with this on (new tab): The Beer Parlour Project.
Interestingly there were other hotels in (small) Lougheed Alberta long ago, but they didn’t seem to last long and they only make brief mention early on. There was the Union, the Grand View and the Boston Hotel, but by the time the Lougheed/Armitage came on the scene, they were all history.
The old grain elevator seen in back is a former Pioneer Grain facility, but now belongs to the Iron Creek Museum. It dates back to the 1910s and was once in the company of many other grain elevators on the same siding. The train tracks spoken of earlier, are still in use and run right behind the structure.
The Then photos is thanks to the University of Calgary and they date it ca1926. We keep going back to 1924, however, since the majority of the references state that year.
We sourced the old image this time, but you might be interested to know we also accept ones from readers as Then & Now fodder. If you have an old family photo (for example) showing something we can historically compare like this, send it our way. Ones we can duplicate exactly are nice, but as long as there is the potential some kind of connection, we can do something with it. So a street scene or one showing a building, it’s all good.
A history write up like this should take up few minutes of your time. It’s a nice, quick and easy to digest read. Just as an FYI: we have a strict deadline of a day or less to research, compile and write these pieces (sounds easy, right?) and that’s due to limited resources. It’s not a complaint but an accepted condition.
“They have no fear when it comes to searching in remote areas, and they have an artistic eye for picture taking. It’s a very enjoyable site.” James Robinson.
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Date of adventure: 1920s & May, 2025. Location: Loughheed Alberta. Article references and thanks: UofCalgary Photo Archives, the book Verdant Valleys – In and Around Lougheed, the Book Sedgewick Sentinel : a History of Sedgewick and Surrounding District, the late Jim Pearson’s Vanishing Sentinels book, old Henderson Directories, plus the Medicine Hat & District Genealogical Society.
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