The Douglas Hotel on North Quay traces its origins to 1759, when the Ulster merchant Robert Black leased a 64-foot quayside frontage from the Duke of Atholl and built a residence on the plot, which was later used by the 4th Duke of Atholl as his Island residence. The building appears in late nineteenth-century Douglas trade directories as a hotel, reflecting North Quay's long history as a merchants' and shipping quarter of the town.