Prince of Wales Hotel National Historic Site The Prince of Wales
Hotel National Historic Site © Parks Canada Built in 1926-27
during one of Waterton’s windiest and snowiest winters, the
Prince of Wales Hotel is the park's most recognized landmark.
During its construction the extreme weather conditions and poor
access created many problems for contractors Douglas Oland and
James Scott, from Cardston, Alberta. On December 10, 1926
hurricane-force winds (estimated at 145 km/hr) blew each of the
hotel's wings about 7.5 cm off their foundation. The men managed
to winch the sections back in line. Three months later winds
reached speeds of over 129 km/hr, again pushing the building off
its foundation. This time Oland feared structural damage if they
tried to pull back the now fully-framed building so he decided
to leave it slightly out of plumb. The hotel is named after
Edward, Prince of Wales who later became King Edward VIII, and,
like its namesake, it has a colourful history. If its Douglas
fir pillars could talk