The original building on the site was the
Post House, built on the north side of the highway in 1867 and moved to its present site in 1892. From 1875 until June of 1885 the building was operated as the "108 Hotel" by Agnus MacVee, Jim MacVee, and her brother-in-law Al Riley. Also in 1867 a log shed was built on the north side of the highway and moved to the present site in 1880, becoming the
Store & Telegraph office. Further additions in 1880 were the
Ice House and a Blacksmith Shop. The
Small Log Barn was added in 1892, as was the wood framed
Blacksmith Shop and the
Bunkhouse. In 1903 the site was bought by Captain Geoffrey Lancelot Watson and in 1904 this ceased to be a Roadhouse and stopping place when Captain Watson turned it into a ranch, raising purebred Clydesdale horses and Highland Cattle. In 1908 the large
Clydesdale Barn was erected. This log barn is valued as the largest log barn left in Canada.
The Ice House was built on the property in 1880 by William Walker. It stands on the southeast corner of the group of heritage buildings on the site, southeast of the 105 Mile Ranch House Museum building. Just over 400 feet to the southwest is the lake from which the ranch would have harvested ice each winter, storing it in the ice house. It was the ice which kept the ice house cool through the summer, enabling the storage of perishables within for much of the year.
Today the building is still used as an "Ice House" of sorts. It becomes an ice cream parlour through the summer, supplying visitors with cool treats to ease those hot summer days.
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1903 1880 WILLIAM WALKER PRE-EMPTED 320 acres D.L. 76. He was a telegraph operator, stockraiser, dairy farmer, trader and 'BX Agent'.
- 1880 Built log dairy **ICE HOUSE** on this site.
- 1880 Tore down "1867" Roper log shed" north of the road and re-assembled it on this site for the ** store and ** TELEGRAPH OFFICE ** Rumor has it, he was looking for gold buried by Agnus MacVee.
- 1880 Black Smith Shop
- 1891 Walker sold the 108 on December 30 to Stephen Tingley for $320.00.
- From the 108 Mile House Heritage Site
Here's how the 108 Mile House Heritage Site came to be.
The beginning was 1969 and we were called the 108 Mile ‘Recreational’ Ranch. The developer, Block Brothers Realty, had a vision to create an ‘outdoor playground’, a five stage 26,800 acre seasonal recreational resort. The Agricultural Land Reserve prevented the last four stages from proceeding, but luckily much of the recreational infrastructure had been put in place first. We are now 1,140 permanent homes at the 108, with a population of approx 2,900. The treasure of it is that we have recreational facilities for a development of about 7,000 homes. The developers are gone and we now control our own destiny through our 108 Mile Ranch Community Association.
From 108 Ranch
In 1979 the Block Brothers sold the seven acre site to the 100 Mile House Historical Society for $1, it took over the 108 Mile House Heritage Site and continues to operate it today.