The National Hotel
This hotel was established in the early 1850s by William Coleman, an immigrant “of some drive” from Castledermont, County Kildare, Ireland. He and his wife, Margaret Richardson, raised a family of 12 children, worked a farm, ran the hotel, was postmaster from 1858 to 1876, issued marriage licences, served a term as councillor and another term as reeve. While doing all of these jobs he still found time to get involved in community issues by attending public meetings and writing letters expressing his opinion.
His licensed hotel/tavern offered five rooms, three beds, stabling for six horses, and was the only hotel in the immediate area for many years. It annoyed him when Mrs. Gilbert, the local Sunday school superintendant, would visit his establishment with advice on the evils of drinking. Descendants of William Coleman talked about this hotel being a favourite stopover location for Sir John A. Macdonald as he travelled back and forth to Ottawa from Kingston, and they were proud to show people the particular rocking chair that Sir John liked to sit in when he visited.
This building was demolished in the 1960s.
