From hoteliers to cabmen: The history of 231-233 St. Patrick Street

By Curtis Wolfe

This Québec-influenced vernacular building at 231-233 St. Patrick Street is one of three adjacent heritage properties in the Lowertown West Heritage Conservation District currently threatened by demolition by neglect (see the April 2024 edition of the Echo for the story of 227-229 St. Patrick). The structure is built on Lot 13, the easternmost lot in Colonel By’s original plan for settlement, and has been leased and occupied since 1829. 

The current building dates to at least 1872 when it was owned by Joseph and Nathalie Lévesque. Joseph was known as a hotel owner who provided rooms for visiting raftsmen during the spring and summer when these workers were in town from remote lumber camps. Joseph was a onetime Ottawa police constable and later worked as a clerk.

In 1875, the building was bought by two cousins, Alex and Léandre Chevrier. In 1870, Alex married Marie Eugénie Éléonore Paul, a member of the François Paul family who had previously owned Lot 13 around 1849.

The Chevrier family originally hailed from the Rigaud region of Québec and had moved to Ottawa to become hoteliers. Alex’s father operated 224-226 St. Patrick across the street as the Hôtel de Rigaud from the early 1860s. The Ottawa Citizen described it as a popular spot for visiting bushmen. Léandre’s father owned the Victoria Hotel on Murray Street around 1863, before moving it to St. Patrick. 

Although they purchased the property together, only Alex’s name appears in city directories as either a hotel owner or saloon keeper throughout the 1870s and 1880s. The building itself was described as a boarding house.  

Indeed, many of the Chevrier family appear to have been prosperous hoteliers. In 1876, various relatives of the two cousins owned hotels at 56 Murray, 75 Murray, 207 St. Patrick and 224 St. Patrick. In particular, Hôtel Castor on Sussex Drive was owned by a relative, Edmond Chevrier.  This hotel, in operation until 1960, was famous for the boot prints which logger and strongman Joseph Montferrand reportedly left in its ceiling. 

Many of the Chevrier children also went on to achieve considerable success. Alex and Eugénie’s son, Eugène, rose through the public service to become Postmaster of the Department of the Interior. His obituary mentions how he loved to tell stories about the lumberjacks who stayed at his family’s hotels. 

In 1888, Wilfrid Tassé bought 231-233 St. Patrick from the Chevrier cousins. Described as having a sterling character, Wilfrid operated a horse-drawn cab business catering to many famous customers, including parliamentarians. His business was successful enough to allow him to hire a few employees and amass a collection of valuable and rare coins – some of which were stolen by his household staff in 1911. 

In his obituary in 1931, Wilfrid was recognized as a link with the past and a “familiar figure of an era when history was being made for the Capital.” Wilfrid’s wife, Marie-Rose Délima Beauchamp, was remembered in her 1939 obituary for her fondness of sharing stories of the early life of Ottawa. 

While there is no record of Délima’s tales, a colourful account involving Wilfrid’s employees was published in the Citizen in 1913. Two men attended a wedding reception in Pointe-Gatineau and had planned to return to Ottawa together. One left without the other and a scuffle erupted in the backyard of 231 St. Patrick when they returned separately. 

The altercation ended with one man biting off part of the other’s ear. When the assailant was sentenced to one month in jail, the Citizen’s report featured the headline: “Cannibal Punished!”