History

Welcome to the Edgewater Hotel and the historic corner of Front and Main Street.

This site has welcomed the territory’s most distinguished founders and notorious bounders for over 100 years.

The Edgewater began its life during the Great Klondike Gold Rush in the late 1890s as the Windsor Hotel, servicing the stampeders heading down the Yukon River to the gold fields of Dawson City.

Located across from both the paddle wheeler docks on the Yukon River and the White Pass and Yukon Route Train Station, the Windsor enjoyed a bustling business at the heart of Whitehorse’s transportation hub.

In 1905, a devastating fire levelled much of the downtown core, including the Windsor Hotel and White Pass Depot. Famed poet and Bard of the Yukon, Robert Service, helped in the firefighting efforts, managing to save the CIBC Bank building where he worked.

The Windsor was later rebuilt as the White Pass Hotel. Ownership passed through the hands of several notable residents, including Cariste Racine, who built the hotel in 1900 and who also rebuilt it in 1905 after the fire. In 1904 Katherine Viaux arrived in Whitehorse, living with Racine and working at the hotel for over a decade without wages. When Racine married another woman in 1915, he transferred ownership of the hotel to Katherine in lieu of the wages he owed her. She owned and operated the hotel until her death in 1957. 

The White Pass Hotel went on to serve the community through the war years, the construction of the Alaska Highway in 1942, and the end of the steamboat era in the mid-fifties.

After another fire on Christmas Day in 1961, the White Pass was rebuilt and renamed the Edgewater Hotel, its name to this day.

From gold seekers, train passengers, and riverboat captains to miners, mushers, and Mounties, the Edgewater Hotel continues to welcome guests to this same historic location, specializing in warm Yukon hospitality and colourful stories.

Today, the Edgewater Hotel is proudly owned and operated by Northern Vision Development LP, combining the legacy of the past with modern comfort and superior service.

We thank you for staying with us and being part of our history!