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Grand Central Hotel, Highland Street, Haliburton, circa 1902. This view conveys the hospitable atmosphere of the hotel during its ownership by John Lucas, standing at Right. On the balcony, his wife Annie stands to the Right of the doorway; their daughters Gladys and Bess are nearby, along with infant Madeline in the lap of a staff member. The most elaborate edifice on the main street, the hotel was a focal point in the community even after the local option vote* in 1910 cancelled its liquor license. The rooms were clean, the food was excellent, and the rates were always reasonable. Travelling salesmen, photographers, and other professionals used the facility to showcase their wares and conduct business. After the Lucas family sold the hotel in 1942, it underwent various changes in ownership and enterprise. As Stedman's Department Store, it was destroyed by fire in 1986. The present V. & S. Department Store currently occupies this site.

*A local option vote is a township or county wide referendum concerned with the sale and serving of alcoholic beverages and liquor. Haliburton citizens voted to make their town dry in the 1910 referendum.