Thornton was founded in 1833 as an insignificant hamlet called Henry’s Corners, or Henryville, after prominent citizen John Henry.
Later, to avoid confusion with another community of the same name, Henry’s Corners became Thornton. For the next two decades, the village grew only fitfully, and Thornton remained small.
In 1858, Jonathon Kilgore established a stage line running along Essa Road between Barrie and Cookstown.
John Stewart, an especially ambitious and enterprising Irish settler, took note of this development and formulated a plan to profit from it. Travellers, their throats parched by the dusty road and their bodies aching from the jarring ride, would surely appreciate respite along the route. Thornton, located almost exactly midway between Cookstown and Barrie, seemed ideal as a stopping point. Convinced success would be his if only he had the courage to take the leap, Stewart decided to build a coaching stop he called the Queen’s Hotel. It was a handsome structure, with a shaded veranda and a large, well-stocked barroom. Stables and a drive shed for the care of horses and coaches were located out back.
Stewart’s gamble paid off. The Queen’s profited as the thrice-weekly stage literally deposited eager customers — hungry, thirsty and tired — on its doorsteps.
The Queen’s also became the centre of local social activity. During one unrecorded year in the 1860s, the Barnum & Bailey Circus was on its way to Barrie via Essa Road when it was greeted in Thornton by hundreds of onlookers eager to catch a glimpse of the exotic animals. Members of the circus were so moved by the enthusiastic welcome that, according to local lore, jugglers and clowns held an impromptu performance in the hotel.
In 1870, another hotel, under the proprietorship of George Ingham, arrived in Thronton in an attempt to horn in on the Queen’s business. As it turned out, the new establishment did little to undermine the position of its forebearer, but there was no love lost between the rival innkeepers.
Even the arrival of the Hamilton and North-Western Railway in 1877, which all but destroyed Kilgore’s coach line, did little to slow the momentum of Stewart’s inn. By that point, Thornton had grown into a sizable village of 100 souls, more than enough to keep the hotel’s bar packed most nights. Truth be told, most 19th-century inns survived largely through the sale of alcohol.
But therein lay the seeds of the Queen’s eventual demise. It wasn’t the cutthroat competition of a rival that did the hotel in, nor the arrival of the railroad. Instead, it was teetotalers. A growing temperance movement, revolting against the widespread drunkenness of the day, forced Essa to go ‘dry’ by banning the sale of liquor. Hotels and taverns inevitably withered and died. The Queen’s Hotel did not escape this harsh reality and closed shortly after the turn of the 20th century.
In the years since, it has served in a variety of roles — barbershop, pool hall, boarding house, restaurant. Today, it’s a doctor’s office and, as such, remains at the heart of Thornton.
