Historic Sites of Manitoba: Lakeside Hotel / Commercial Hotel / Casey’s Inn (68 First Street, Lac du Bonnet)

In anticipation of the end of Prohibition and the construction of a new Canadian Pacific Railway station on First Street, this two-storey hotel on First Street in Lac du Bonnet was built in the early 1920s for Norwegian immigrant and Reeve Oscar Petterson.

Named the Lakeside Hotel, it offered “Rooms for Rent” and an ice cream parlour until Prohibition ended in 1923, when it became Lac du Bonnet’s first beer parlour. Around 1928, Petterson sold the hotel to Percival Jones who renamed it the Commercial Hotel. In 1945, Jones sold out to William Aloysius “Bill” Creaney (?-1974) and the name became Casey’s Inn after the traditional American folk song “Casey Jones”.

Casey's Inn (July 1954) Source: Lac du Bonnet and District Museum Casey's Inn (December 2022) Source: Jordan Makichuk Site Coordinates (lat/long): N50.25805, W96.05986 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Memorable Manitobans: Oscar Petterson (1879-1952)

Sources:

Marriage registration [William Aloysius Creaney, Kathleen Isabel Halliday], Manitoba Vital Statistics.

“Lac du Bonnet,” Springfield Leader, 25 June 1974, page 4.

Logs and Lines From the Winnipeg River: A History of the Lac du Bonnet Area by the Lac du Bonnet History Book Committee, 1980, pages 104, 162, 168.

“From our files,” Rivers Banner, 21 May 2010, page 3.

We thank Gordon Goldsborough for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Jordan Makichuk.

Page revised: 11 February 2024

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