The Red Lion Hotel in Cadogan Alberta closed a few years back. It’s kind of sad to see it play out like this, a once busy place now empty and quiet. It sits on the corner of Caversham and 4th Street, on what was the business district in town. In years past, there were many other shops and stores in close proximity, but at the end it stood alone.
They called it quits. It was the last business of this sort, here in this town, and when the final day came, so ended a chapter in the book of Cadogan. They shut the doors, turned off the lights and now there’s nothing at all going on. It’s like countless little towns on the Canadian Prairies and often the hotel is one of the last to go. When it does, the community dies a little.
Red Lion Hotel Cadogan Alberta: in a former bank building. Beer Parlour obsessed with Chris Doering & Connie Biggart (BIGDoer/Synd)
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Cadogan is in the far central-eastern reaches of the province and is a quiet little backwater. Not that it’s bad and we for one, would kill for such solitude. It has a population of about a hundred but in the past it somewhat greater. A Henderson Directory from the 1910s lists it as 500, but that might be in error. We never seen it greater than about one hundred and fifty in any government records. However, old phone directories lists a large number of numbers in surrounding rural areas and this might be part of the Henderson tally.
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The building which houses the Red Lion Hotel has an interesting backstory as former Canadian Bank of Commerce. The bank built it in the early days – we’ve not found the exact date of construction, but suspect sometime later the 1910s. That’s a few years after the founding of the town with the coming of the railway.
The first confirmed mention of it discovered during research was the early 1920s. It’s not visible in a very early photo of the town, showing the complete downtown, so it did come a bit later.
The Canadian Bank of Commerce had branch all over the prairies and in the 1960s merged with the Imperial Bank of Canada to form the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. The Cadogan CBC closed in the mid-1930s during the depression.
The Canadian Bank of Commerce used a Caduceus symbol (two snakes entwined around a winged staff) for its logo and that relief is still visible on the hotel. Up high and centred. Caduceus is a symbol of commerce, among other things, but sometimes is mistaken or even misused as a medical symbol. The similar Asclepius symbol (serpent-entwined rod) is correct for health related things. Honestly, it’s easy to confuse the two.
With that, a person might then believe this building had a medical function, like a hospital, but that’s not the case. We know of several former Canadian Bank of Commerce buildings in various prairie towns and on many the symbol remains in place.
The Red Lion Hotel first shows up in the late 1940s (SJ Capowski listed as manager) but what happened to the building in the interim is a bit of a mystery. Likely, it was empty the whole time. Cadogan lost a lot of businesses during the great depression and empty shops were nothing unusual.
There is a history book called “Prairie Echoes: Metiskow, Cadogan, Cairns, Precious Memories of the Former Hillcrest Municipality” that likely clarifies this, and other missing pieces in this article, but we’ve yet to track down a research copy. If we do, expect some updates here. In the meantime, we’ve pieced this together from other sources as best we could and there’s enough to build a story.
This is not the first bank made into a hotel we know of and there’s one in Clive Alberta (Prairie Fire Cafe & Lounge – Clive Hotel) that was a Union Bank. We shot an episode of the Beer Parlour Project there in March of 2025 – search for it online.
Later in the 1950s and early ’60s they list a PI Marshall as manager of the Red Lion Hotel in phone directories. Then it changes to J Schrettlinger for a time. By the late 1960s Chuck and Dot Eldridge hold that position. Certainly there were many others not listed.
In some years, the phone entries read “Cadogan Red Lion Hotel”. In the only ad we found for the business from this time, they tout modern rooms and a licensed beer parlour. Emphasis on booze!
The Red Lion Hotel remained in business until about 2017 or minimally, they had an online presence until then. From September that year: “Tonight’s Supper Special: Ukrainian Platter with homemade cabbage rolls, perogies and sausage”. As someone who grew up with that kind of food, that sounds delicious. They seem to post regularly into late that month (lots of great sounding meals) and then is abruptly stops. Good deals on drinks too.
Earlier in 2017, they advertised an Oiler watch party and state that every time the ref makes a bad call, there would be a round of shooters on the house. That’s what did them in! From a comment: “FREE SHOOTER every time the Ref’s make a Bad Call!! That’s a BRAVE Gamble for an establishment to make!”
“You have tried the rest, now come to Cadogan and try the best.” – from their Facebook page. Also: “We will be closed on December 15th until after Alex’s funeral so we can pay our respects to this wonderful young man. Rest easy Alex. You will be greatly missed by everyone.” – December 10th, 2016. Not sure who he was, but someone loved him.
Also: “Relief for victims of the Ft McMurray fires is being organized as we speak! We have secured an enclosed trailer to house goods until transport to Edmonton Emergency Relief Services, which will distribute items where needed. WE ARE NOT ACCEPTING HOUSEHOLD GOODS/TOYS/FOOD/RANDOM CLOTHING AT THIS TIME!!! We’re also are NOT accepting financial donations. Any financial contributions can be made to the Red Cross or on the Edmonton Emergency Relief Services website & a tax receipt will be issued. If you are able to provide any of the following please watch for further info on drop off locations! Items needed are: Diapers Formula Baby wipes Soap Body wash Shampoo & conditioner New brushes/combs Deodorant Feminine Hygiene products Bottled water New socks and underwear (men & women) Toothpaste Toothbrushes Pet food Kitty litter Toilet Paper New pillows New sheets/blankets/pillowcases Kleenex New sweat pants/track pants New t-shirts If anyone is interested in volunteering with me for this project please let me know. Any & all help is appreciated! Also, please SHARE, SHARE, SHARE this postđđđ» Things listed can be dropped off at the Cadogan Red Lion will be picked up next week and taken to those in need!”
It looks like they were community minded but then again, rural folks tend to shine in this respect. That page first posted in 2013.
The old photo seen in the comparison is thanks to the University of Calgary Molson Brewery Archives and dates from the 1950s. The Molson company likely supplied the hotel at the time and had this image taken for that file. There’s huge number of hotels in the Molson Archives that they presumably used in the same way. Team Beer Parlour Project has visited some of those seen, while many others have closed or they’re gone.
From the front view at least, this building appears little changed over time, but we’re unsure exactly when they put in that back addition. It’s not visible in the Molson image due to the angle and that’s if it’s even there. That siding back there is not that old, but who knows the age of what lies underneath. It is visible in a 1960 dated aerial photo we found, but is half-width when compared to today. So one part is at least that old and the other somewhat newer.
There are several cars parked in front of the Red Lion in the old days and you can see someone entering the building. It appears there’s a second entryway to the right and this might be the “ladies and escorts” door. Back then the rules were different and ladies either had their own barroom or a section within the main bar that was theirs alone. As long as they came in with a male escort. A husband, brother, boyfriend, relative, or in a pinch some random guy you convinced to join you, would all do.
That nice old tree is gone.
The Red Lion Hotel building (back when it was still a bank) shows up in a detailed fire insurance map from the early 1930s. The legend shows it as the only brick building in the town. The list of businesses in downtown then is extensive and includes a couple garages, a couple general stores, an eatery or two, a post office, phone exchange, butcher shop, theatre and others. All are gone and there’s houses on these lots now.
A Cadogan Hotel also shows in this map and it was previously unbeknownst to us. Further research turned up photos of it very early on (early 1910s). The location was a block away and near the train station. It’s not known what happened to it and when, but presumably it was gone before the Red Lion came on the scene. There are no phone entries for it, but that might not have had one – early on in rural parts, you could get by without.
Or maybe the new one replaced the old one? This requires further research, so for now we’ll not speculate further.
The origins of the Red Lion name are as yet unknown. It’s a symbol of courage, strength, and determination, plus of British Royalty, so perhaps the answer is somewhere in there. Again, the local history book might shed some light on this.
We believe the Red Lion Hotel rented rooms into the 1990s, but we’re not sure beyond that date. Ads for the hotel are scarce and usually not very informative.
It’s time to go and after one last look we’re on the way. We’d love to go back in time and see it when it was open. It’s not that long ago! Let’s shoot an episode of the Beer Parlour Project, get to know the people and building. We can dream it. Something tells us we’ll return to photograph the building and we really like the character.
“Chris and Connieâs posts are among the best of the blogs out there. In fact this is my go to guide for where to explore in the summer. I like how well organized it is which allows a person to select from epic hikes to nearly forgotten history.” Glen Bowe.
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Date of adventure: 1950s and June 2025. Location: Cadogan, Alberta. Article references and thanks: University of Calgary Archives, Alberta Government, Henderson Directories, Red Lion Hotel Facebook Page and the Medicine Hat & District Genealogical Society.
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