William Cornelius Van Horne

William Cornelius Van Horne
Born	February 3, 1843(1843-02-03) near Frankfort, Illinois, U.S.
Died	September 11, 1915(1915-09-11) (aged 72) Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Sir William Cornelius Van Horne, KCMG (February 3, 1843 – September 11, 1915) was a pioneering Canadian railway executive.

Life and career

Born in 1843 in rural Illinois, he moved with his family to Joliet, Illinois when he was eight years old. Van Horne began working on railroads in 1857, serving in various capacities on the Michigan Central Railway until 1864, then for the Chicago and Alton Railway for whom he served as the general superintendent from 1878-1879. In 1882, he was appointed general manager of the Canadian Pacific Railway and in 1884 became its vice-president. Rising to president in 1888, he is most famous for overseeing the major construction of the first Canadian transcontinental Railway.

Van Horne considered the railway an integrated communications and transportation system and convinced the directors and shareholders to create a telegraph service and an express freight delivery service as a complement to the railway. Van Horne was knowledgeable in nearly every element of the railway industry, including operating a locomotive. A wealthy man, he later became a shareholder of the Cuba Railroad Company.

Bovril Building, corner Parc Avenue and Van Horne Avenue, Montreal 1921

He was also responsible for launching the sea transport division of the Canadian Pacific Railway, inaugurating a regular service between Vancouver and Hong Kong in 1891 on the Empress luxury liners, and lastly presided over the expansion of the CPR in the luxury hotel business and participated in the design of two of the most famous buildings in the chain, the Château Frontenac in Quebec City and Chateau Lake Louise in Alberta.

Van Horne served as a governor of McGill University from 1895–1915 and was one of the first in Canada to acquire artworks by members of the French impressionist movement.

He built the Van Horne Mansion in Montreal and a large summer estate which he named "Covenhoven" on Minister's Island, adjacent to CPR's resort town of St. Andrews, New Brunswick. The island estate is accessible by a road during the Bay of Fundy's low tide.

Following Van Horne's death in Montreal, Quebec in 1915 at the age of 72, his remains were interred at Oakwood Cemetery in Joliet, Illinois.

Honours

Covenhoven

Sir William Van Horne Elementary School in Vancouver, BC, is named after Van Horne, in honour of his contributions to British Columbia. There are streets named for Van Horne in several Canadian cities including Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Sudbury and Brandon. In 2011, Van Horne was featured in Rocky Mountain Express, a 45-minute IMAX film about the construction of the CPR.

Horne's summer estate on Minister's Island was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1996.

External links

• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
• Official Website of Ministers Island
• Minister's Island: Sir William Van Horne's Summer Home in St. Andrews
• Photograph: Sir William Van Horne in 1902. McCord Museum
• Photograph: Sir William Van Horne circa 1905. McCord Museum
• Photograph: Sir William Van Horne's House, Montreal, Quebec circa 1900. McCord Museum

Business positions
Preceded by George Stephen	President of Canadian Pacific Railway Limited 1889 – 1899	Succeeded by Thomas George Shaughnessy