Project Description

Merchant Charles Hales hired noted architect George Browne in 1841. Browne placed an advertisement in the Chronicle and Gazette newspaper seeking masons and carpenters “to contract for enlarging and building a wing to a house and store in Store Street.” The wing that Browne designed includes the iconic round corner that still overlooks the northwest corner of the intersection of Ontario and Princess streets.

The large stone building was one of three commercial structures in Kingston’s core with a beautifully rounded corner. All were designed by Browne, who is celebrated for his magnificent design of Kingston’s City Hall, which is located two blocks south of the Hales’ building, first known as the Commercial Mart.

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