The Yukon Hotel was designated a national historic site of Canada in 1982 because:

- it was typical of commercial structures built at the height of the Klondike Gold Rush.

The heritage value of the Yukon Hotel resides in its representation of typical commercial structures built at the height of the Klondike Gold Rush as illustrated by its site, setting and composition. Built in 1898 by J. E. Binet, the Yukon Hotel was first known as the Binet Block. Initially rented for Government Offices, it became a hotel in 1900 and served as such under a variety of names until 1957. Today it has been restored as part of Dawson Historical Complex National Historic Site of Canada.

Source: Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, Minutes, 1982.

Additional Information

Original use - saloon

Personal recollection - John Gould - Dawson Museum has a research file on this building. Heritage Canada restored this hotel and put 6 small apts in it.

Under the Property Program, HCF purchased the hotel in 1975 for $1, the hotel was vacant and decaying. The HCF invested $386,000 into the building rehabilitation. The hotel was sold into private hands in 1983, the year after designation as a national historic site.

Character Defining Elements

Key elements that contribute to the heritage value of this site include:

- its siting flush to the sidewalk on a major street within downtown Dawson City;

- its boom town architectural vocabulary translated as a rectangular footprint, two-and-a-half pitched roof massing, behind a three-storey false-front;

- its log construction with milled lumber façade;

- the simple articulation of the three-bay façade with central entry between large, multi-pane commercial windows, second-storey balcony and false window at third-storey level;

- its wooden detailing, notably the ornate balcony railing and brackets;

- the functionally driven arrangement of apertures on all other elevations;

- its use of pressed metal as a roofing material;

- the surviving evidence of original interior layout, workmanship and materials.

Historical Sources Location

Dominion Land Titles

Territorial Land Titles

Dawson Municipal Records. Assessment and Tax Rolls

Dawson City Directories for 1903, 1905-6 and 1915-16

Heritage. Volume XVI, Number 3, 2013. p.14-15.

Renovation Information

Permit was issued in October 1970 to complete restoration to building.

Finalized in June 1979.

Permit was issued in October 1977 to replace the foundation under an existing building and to stabilize the building as well. Permit finalized in July 1978.

Construction Style

Round logs with vertical posts at corners, building is in three sections, bottom five rounds bevelled around inset windows. Red River style of log work. Frame facade with moulded cornice and gable metal roof. Balcony with railing on second floor on west wall, decorative brackets at eaves,and below balcony. Picture windows on first floor on west wall, single hung windows with moulded headers and decorative trim below sills. Vertical planking on sawdust boxes. Logs perma chinked. Frame addition with metal shed roof off east wall, another addition with metal shed roof and decorative braces off south wall of addition. Platform and shed roof overhang over door on east wall.

Cultural History

The building was constructed during the Klondike Gold Rush in 1898 by J.E. Binet, who named it Binet Block. A local entrepreneur, he and his brother J.O. Binet also operated a number of other hotels and saloons. He and his workers used available materials, rushing to complete it by November. The narrow building had large street-level windows flanking the main entrance. Only the facade was made of milled lumber, as it was in short supply; the remainder of the building was made of rough logs chinked with mud.

It was leased to the Government of Canada for $1000 per month, which used it for the office of the Commissioner of Yukon, William Ogilvie, for land and timber agent offices, the territorial registrar, and as living quarters for the staff. In November 1900, the government relocated its offices to the post office, newly constructed at the corner of Third Street and King Street. Binet then operated the building as a residence.

The building then changed ownership many times. Henry Freeman bought Binet Block in 1909 and operated it as the Miner's Rest Hotel. In 1913, Minnie Witmore renamed it the Freeman Hotel. The building was purchased by hotelier Emma Wilson in 1933, whose adjacent hotel was destroyed by fire. She renamed it the Yukon Hotel. Wilson operated the hotel until 1957, after which it was boarded up.

In 1975, the Heritage Canada Foundation purchased the ‘vacant and decaying’ building for $1, and by 1980 had spent $386,000 to renovate it. In 1983 the foundation sold the building.

Source:

-https://archive.nationaltrustcanada.ca/visit-discover/find-historic-places/historic-sites-canada/yukon/yukon-hotel

-South Dawson City Walking Tour, Parks Canada.

Documentation Location

National Historic Sites Directorate, Documentation Centre, 5th Floor, Room 89, 25 Eddy Street, Gatineau, Quebec