2-324-289 - Curt Teich Postcard Archives/Heritage Images

View of the Empress Hotel in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, 1940. Postcard. The hotel was built by Canadian Pacific Steamships to provide accommodatio for passengers arriving at its nearby terminal. Designed by Francis Rattenbury, the totel was built in 1908-1910. Celebrities and royalty stayed at the Empress as Victoria became a popular tourist destination. Victoria's residents have long regarded the Empress as an iconic symbol of their city, and vociferously opposed plans to replace it with a more modern, high-rise hotel. For many years the building did not have a sign over its entrance. When one was put up someone famously remarked: Anyone who doesn't know this is the Empress shouldn't be staying here.