Alberta Register of Historic Places

Dickson Store and Site

Dickson

Other Names:

Christiansen Store
Christiansen's Store
Dickson Store
General Store

Statement of Significance

Description of Historic Place
The Dickson Store and Site consists of three main buildings: a two-storey, L-shaped, wood frame building, a garage, and a lumber storage shed. The site also contains several significant landscape features, including the lawn, flag pole and garden. It is located on one lot in a rural area about 3.2 kilometres south of Spruce View.

Heritage Value
The heritage value of the Dickson Store and Site lies in its association with Danish immigration to Alberta. It also possesses heritage value for its representation of a rural commercial establishment supporting a local agricultural economy.

In 1903, Carl Christiansen and 17 of his Danish compatriots settled west of Innisfail. Like many Scandinavian immigrants to the Canadian West, they had spent several years in the United States before pulling up stakes and crossing the northern border. Six years after arriving, Christiansen opened a general store in the community, then known as Dickson. The Dickson Store and Site became the commercial heart of the Danish settlement: in addition to providing lumber and dry goods, the store also bought and sold locally-produced eggs, butter, and fresh meats. Christiansen provided other services to the community as well, serving as the first postmaster, a deacon in the nearby Danish Lutheran Church, and a contact person for new Danish immigrants during the inter-war period.

Over the course of its history, the Dickson Store and Site evolved to meet the needs of the area's growing agricultural community. The store is a simply constructed, balloon-framed building. Three additions to the store were built between 1911 and 1930 and a lumber storage shed was constructed in 1928. An ice cooler was acquired in 1919, allowing the store to become the central local distribution point for the nearby Markerville Creamery. In 1947, Christiansen established some of Alberta's earliest rural freezer lockers for a processed meat plant. These expansions reflected the growth of the settlement in the inter-war period, as Danes discouraged from settling in the United States by new quotas on European immigration opted instead to take up land in central Alberta.

Source: Alberta Culture and Community Spirit, Historic Resources Management Branch (File: 1584)

Character-Defining Elements
The character-defining elements of the Dickson Store and Site include:

- form, scale, massing and wood construction of the store, garage, and the lumber storage shed;
- the store's balloon frame construction with drop siding, gable roof, and fenestration pattern including inset entrance door and display windows on the main facade;
- landscape features including lawn, flag pole and garden;
- original store interior finishes such as fir flooring, as well as exterior siding visible on interior walls indicating building's evolution and expansion;
- original store equipment such as accounts register and coffee grinder, as well as store merchandise complete with original packing;
- store layout, including the post office and meat locker with cold room door;
- layout of second floor residence with some original family belongings;
- lumber storage shed, with its distinctive form, raked front facade and sloping interior lumber bins.

Location

Street Address:
Community:	Dickson
Boundaries:	Lot 25, Block 2, Plan 8721310
Contributing Resources:	Building: 3 Landscape(s) or Landscape Feature(s): 3

ATS Legal Description:

Mer	Rge	Twp	Sec	LSD
5	3	36	1	4 (ptn.)

PBL Legal Description (Cadastral Reference):

Plan	Block	Lot	Parcel
8721310	2	25

Latitude/Longitude:

Latitude	Longitude	CDT	Datum Type
52.057405	-114.310558	GPS	NAD 83

UTM Reference:

Northing	Easting	Zone	CDT	Datum Type

Recognition

Recognition Authority:	Province of Alberta
Designation Status:	Provincial Historic Resource
Date of Designation:	1988/07/07

Historical Information

Built:	1909 to 1909
Period of Significance:
Theme(s):	Developing Economies : Trade and Commerce Peopling the Land : Settlement
Historic Function(s):	Commerce / Commercial Services : Shop or Wholesale Establishment
Current Function(s):
Architect:
Builder:
Context:	HERITAGE SIGNIFICANCE The historical significance of the Dickson Store derives from its association with Carl Christiansen who played a significant role in Danish settlement in Western Canada. In July 1903, he came to Central Alberta along with a group of 17 other Danish immigrants. The area they settled west of Innisfail was first called Kings but was later changed to Dickson after an early Norwegian settler named Benedickson. Carl Christiansen immediately emerged as a prominent member of this new community, serving as its first Post Master, and as a deacon in the Danish Lutheran Church. Christiansen is best remembered, however, as the owner of the Dickson Store. In 1909, he constructed his store 1.5 miles west of his homestead. The Christiansen store immediately became the commercial focus of Dickson. He supported the local farm economy by buying and selling eggs, trading lumber, and selling locally butchered meat, which he kept with butter in an ice cooler after 1919. In 1947, the Christiansens established what might have been the first rural freezer lockers in Alberta for their processed meat plant. The store also served as a local distribution point for the nearby Markerville Creamery. Christiansen was active on the local immigration committee throughout his life. Many young Danes came to the area during the inter-war years, and Christiansen's store remained the contact point for new immigrants.

Additional Information

Object Number:	4665-0570
Designation File:	DES 1584
Related Listing(s):
Heritage Survey File:	HS 24642
Website Link:
Data Source:	Alberta Culture and Community Spirit, Historic Resources Management Branch, Old St. Stephen's College, 8820 - 112 Street, Edmonton, AB T6G 2P8 (File: Des. 1584)