Hunt House - Calgary, Alberta
N 51° 02.630 W 114° 02.510
11U E 707358 N 5658863
The 1876 Hunt House is the oldest building in Calgary still on its original site.
Waymark Code: WMF3ZX
Location: Alberta, Canada
Date Posted: 08/19/2012
Views: 5
The Hunt House is the oldest building in Calgary still on its original site, and one of the oldest buildings in Alberta. Built for the Hudson's Bay Company in 1876, just across the Elbow River from the new Fort Calgary, it was meant to be home to an upper-level HBC employee. The log construction was eventually covered up with wooden shingles, and its history was lost; although it was thought to date to the early Fort Calgary era there was no clear confirmation of that until 2006, when a photo from 1879 was uncovered which showed the building.
Without documentation of its age, it had been difficult to get any funding for preservation or restoration. Discovery of the photo spurred on plans to finally give the cabin the attention it needed. Unfortunately, the economic downturn in 2008 meant that restoration plans needed to be scaled back, and in 2010 it was reported by the CBC that the building was in danger of being lost to neglect.
Canada's Historic Places entry for Hunt House
Glenbow Museum photo of Hunt House in 1910