Upper Metcalfe Street

Upper Metcalfe Street. . This section of Elora's main thoroughfare features three grand old hotel buildings. Perched at the top of the hill, the eloquent Dalby House Hotel overlooks the village centre. This distinctive, two-tone brick flat iron building was erected by Robert Dalby and Andrew Gordon in 1865. These two men were opposites in every possible way, with Dalby the conservative brewer and tavern-owner and Gordon the fiery reformer and temperance man. Gordon operated a harness shop at the peak of the edifice and, much to Dalby's chagrin, placed a carved stone there naming the building “Gordon's Block”. A few years earlier, two other hostelries were established on the west side of Metcalfe Street, between Church and James Streets. The Royal Arms Hotel opened in 1859 and, right next to it a year later, the American House. As the names suggest, the owners of these hotels held opposing views on British North American loyalties. When operated by Sarah and Andrew Kauffman, The Royal had the finest dining room fare in Elora. The American often operated as a temperance hotel. Of the three, only the Dalby survived prohibition, reopening its tavern in 1934 and staying in business into the 21st-century. The Royal Hotel was purchased by the Royal Canadian Legion in 1938 and was enlarged in 1969. Two newspaper offices were located on upper Metcalfe Street, the Elora Observer and the Elora Express. The Observer office building though much altered, still stands on the northeast corner of Metcalfe and Church Streets. A few doors-up the street was Godfrey's Shoe Store which housed the post office until the current post office building was erected in 1911.