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Writer's pictureGreg Nesteroff

Crown Point Hotel envelope nets $625

An envelope from the Crown Point Hotel in Trail, postmarked 1908, has sold for $455 US ($625 Cdn) on eBay. As with an earlier envelope from New Denver that fetched over $1,000 Cdn, the local connection was presumably beside the point for the winning bidder.

Rather, it was the rare Christmas seal on the back that inflated the price. It reads: “A Merry Christmas/British Columbia/Anti-Tuberculosis Soc.” 

The envelope was sent a W. Mitchel in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, who then wrote on the front: “Answered Nov. 18, 1909.” That was approximately 11 months after it was received! 


The seller was in Porters Lake, Nova Scotia.


Former stamp collector Malcom Fitz-Earle comments: “The stamp on the front of the first envelope, Queen Alexandra and King Edward (2 cent, inscribed ‘Le centenaries de Quebec,’ released July 16, 1908), is of limited value as a cover, since the date stamp is incomplete (just the year). The seal on the back is much more interesting. The inscription around the periphery indicates that it is a Christmas seal promoting public education about tuberculosis and was a fundraiser. The BC Anti-TB Soc was probably an affiliate of the Canadian Association for the Prevention of TB, formed in 1900, and the latest iteration of which is the Canadian Lung Association.”


The Crown Point was built by the Petersen brothers (John, Simon, and Julius) in 1895 at the corner of Bay and Spokane streets and vied with the Arlington across the street for the title of Trail’s leading hotel. It was named after a mine on Red Mountain. 


The original hotel was demolished and rebuilt in 1929. It’s now the Crown Columbia.  

The first Crown Point Hotel, in the 1890s or early 1900s. (Image I-60971 courtesy of the Royal BC Museum and Archives) 

The first Crown Point Hotel, in the 1890s or early 1900s. (Image A-03140 courtesy of the Royal BC Museum and Archives) 

The second Crown Point Hotel probably in the 1940s.

The second Crown Point Hotel in 2000.

The Crown Columbia in 2020.

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As a teenager I bought off sale and drank beer in the bee parlour.

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Very interesting, Greg! I feel your enthusiasm for this. (Does the Mrs. know that you are spending large sums buying up these envelopes?!) Can't believe they removed those very nice trees from alongside the hotel. (But, you know, you have to water them, and sweep the leaves and breathe the fresh air that they produce, so I understand - he said rather facetiously.)

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I bid $45 on this one, which I thought was plenty!

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