Commemoration
Regiopolis College, incorporated March 4, 1837, by an Act of the legislature of Upper Canada, opened in the central portion of this building. Its corner stone was laid by the school’s founder, Bishop Alexander Macdonell on June 11, 1839. In 1866 the College was given full degree granting powers, although these were rarely used. Financial difficulties forced its closing in 1869. In 1892 the building was acquired by the Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph who opened here the Hotel Dieu Hospital. The school reopened on King Street in 1896 and, in 1915, moved to the northern part of the city. In 1913 the diocesan clergy transferred the College to the Jesuit Order
Background
Like many educational institutions of the 19th and early 20th centuries, schools were the responsibility of churches and priests (or nuns for girls) were the teachers. In the case of Regiopolis, it was Jesuit Fathers.
The college was incorporated into the hospital in 1896. The original building is now part of the Hotel Dieu Hospital.