Dufferin House

The Dufferin House facade, around 1903.

With the increase in tourism, several stores and hotels were built . In 1864, Abraham DeVillers commissioned Louis Dubé, a local carpenter, to build him a good-sized house in which he set up a general store on the groundfloor.  During the summers he rented out some of the family’s upstairs rooms, as well as a section of his stables.  Monsieur DeVillers provided tourists with transportation and ice, two indispensable commodities in those days.

Photo source :
Musée du Bas-Saint-Laurent, Belle-Lavoie Collection

Dufferin House, around 1900.

Jeremiah M. Pollock, a traveling salesman, purchased the house in 1893.  He added another story and made it over into a monumental-style hotel, with rooms for fifty guests.  In addition to all the amenities of the times, the hotel offered a magnificent view of the river from the broad veranda.  A dance hall set up in a building in back of the hotel was a popular attraction.

Photo source :
E. Rivard, éditeur, Richard Michaud Collection