Around 1891, George Koenig and his bride, Mary, acquired the former Morton House after owner, Charlie Morton’s death. Sadly, Mary died shortly after in 1892 due to complications in childbirth.
George then married Anna Wiegle, 2 ½ months later in Nanaimo. They had two sons, born in 1893 and 1895.
In 1897, their hotel, now known as “Koenig’s” or the Shawnigan Lake Hotel was expanded
and renovated. It was a very popular resort and was regarded as the heart of the community.
In Koenig’s Hotel were the first store and the post office. There, also, most of the
teachers boarded and there inaugurated the first Community Christmas Tree, which eventually moved over to the SLAA Hall where it was an annual event until well into the 1960s. There, on the north side of the hotel, the “latch-string was out” in the guise of a row of hospitable hitching posts for the use of the horse and buggy by summer and the horse and sleigh by winter.
Unfortunately, in 1902, the hotel experienced a major fire. Major rebuilding began almost immediately. Then, during a regular morning bathing ritual in winter, George, a non-swimmer, drowned in the lake on the day before the hotel was set to reopen. There were rumours of a possible suicide, but an inquest ruled his death as accidental.
Prior to 1914, the station at the village was named Koenig’s Station after these popular pioneers.
After her husband’s death, Ann Koenig and her twos sons continued to run and operate the hotel, including within it the first village store and post office. During their busy years in the hotel, the Koenigs were ably assisted by Mrs. Koenig’s sister, Mrs. K. Bloomquist.
There, also, most of the teachers boarded and there was born the first Community Christmas Tree, which eventually moved over to the SLAA in 1912. On the north side of the hotel, the “latch-string was out” in the guise of arow of hospitable hitching posts for the use of the horse and buggy by summer and the horse and sleigh by winter.
Anna Koenig was a major property owner in the area. The SLAA (Shawnigan Lake Athletic Association) Hall property was donated by her in 1911.
She sold the hotel and most of her property to Mr. James Finlay in 1912. Then in 1913 she built a handsome store building directly opposite the Hall. In the basement part was a butcher shop; on the main floor was the Kingsley store and
the post office; and on the top floor were comfortable living quarters.
A community leader, she was a founding member of the Shawnigan Lake Women’s Institute. Her sister, Mrs. N. Hartl was well-known, as well, because of the local Hartl farm (now the site of Shawnigan Lake School fields).
In 1916, at the height of the wartime anti-German hysteria, she changed her name to Anna Kingsley.
She sold the General Store and Post Office in 1923 to the Carters and continued to live in Shawnigan until her death in 1948.
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