Key Number:	HS 24722
Site Name:	Hunt House
Other Names:
Site Type:	0101 - Residential: Single Dwelling 0498 - Mercantile/Commercial: Outbuilding

Location

ATS Legal Description:

			Twp	Rge	Mer
			23	1	5

Address:	890 - 9 Avenue SE
Number:	90
Street:	8 SE
Avenue:	9 SE
Other:
Town:	Calgary
Near Town:

Media

Type	Number	Date	View	Source

Architectural

Style:
Plan Shape:	Square
Storeys:	Storeys: 1
Foundation:	Basement/Foundation Wall Material: Concrete
Superstructure:	Horizontal Log
Superstructure Cover:
Roof Structure:	Medium Gable
Roof Cover:
Exterior Codes:	Massing of Units: Single Detached Wings: Either Side Roof Trim - Eaves: Plain Soffit Roof Trim - Eaves: Other Chimney Location - Side to Side: Centre Chimney Location - Front to Rear: Rear Chimney Stack Material: Brick Chimney Stack Massing: Single Window - Special Types: Half-Round Main Entrance - Location: Off-Centre (Facade) Main Entrance - Structural Opening Shape: Flat Main Entrance - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Head: Moulded Flat Main Entrance - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Head: Plain Lintel Main Entrance - Trim Outside Structural Opening Material: Wood Main Entrance - Number of Leaves: 1
Exterior:	The building has a dug-out basement. Exterior and interior covered with siding/panelling, therefore full condition not known. Original basement material: wood. New basement material: concrete.
Interior:	Lino on floors, fir trim, drywall.
Environment:	Lot size: 50 feet x 100 feet. Part of the Fort Calgary area being situated directly east of the Supt. R. Burton Deane House.
Condition:	Structure: Fair. Repair: Fair. Exterior and interior covered with siding/panelling, therefore full condition not known. Fair (1992).
Alterations:	The orginal cabin was 17 ft. long and 14 ft. wide. Two bedrooms were added sometime before 1947. The last occupant of the house was W.J. Hunt, who tarpapered and shingled the house and covered the roof twice with rubberoid. The house has been raised on a cement foundation and the two bedrooms converted to one.

Historical

Construction:	Construction Date:
Earliest construction date Latest construction date	1876/01/01 1881/01/01
Usage:	Usage Date:
Hudson's Bay Company property Private residence Private residence/office	1876/01/01 1884/01/01 1977/06/01
Owner:	Owner Date:
Hudson's Bay Company William J. Hunt City of Calgary	1876/01/01 1972/01/01 1975/08/21

Architect:	none
Builder:	Hudson's Bay Company
Craftsman:	N/A
History:	It is beleived that this cabin was a home of a Hudson Bay Co. employee, therefore, being built around 1875-86. Another source feels that it was occupied as a residence by Col. MacLeod in 1884-85. The original cabin was 17' long and 14' wide. Two bedrooms were added to the original structure sometime before 1947. The last occupant was a Mr. W.J. Hunt who tarpapered and shingled the house and covered the roof twice with rubberoid. The house has been raised on a cement foundation and the two bedrooms converted to one. The original 1' logs are still intact. This is one of the three oldest standing Hudson's Bay Company buildings in Alberta (Fort Victoria - 1864, Fort Dunvegan - 1878), and one of less than 25 known structures which pre-date 1882. For Calgary, it is that city's oldest building on its original site. * * * Hudson's Bay Company squatted on this land from the spring of 1876 until 1884. This log cabin and two others begin to appear in photographs taken as early as 1881. It is in its original location. Part of small cellar roof is supported by barber pole. Was a private home for generations, after the Hudson's Bay Comapny moved to what is now Calgary's downtown core. Many of the other community businesses moved as well, to be near the CPR depot. * * * W.H. HUNT HOUSE (HUDSON'S BAY CO. BLDG.) - FORT CALGARY Not many offices can lay claim to having been located in an historical building, but such is the case for Fort Calgary's first office, for the Hunt House was just that. The small red and white shingled building located at 890 - 9 Avenue SE, is believed to have been built by the Hudson's Bay Co. between 1876 and 1881 as the home of the company's interpreter. This building was first constructed of logs and was associated with the operation of the North West Mounted Police at Fort Calgary. It is the oldest Calgary building still on its original site. Over the years this small structure has had many face lifts; to the original square log building an addition was added to the west side; later the whole house was placed on a foundation; and the fireplace was moved from the east to the west side. In 1947 W.H. Hunt purchased the house; he added a garden shed along the east wall and filled the front yard with myriads of colourful blooms each summer. In 1974 the returned to the city of Calgary to once again take its rightful place as part of our past heritage. By Calgary artist, Betty Macdonald. * * * SHINGLES DISGUISE OLDEST HOUSE By Jerry Budenie (Herald Staff Writer) It may not look like the oldest house in Calgary but then looks can be deceiving. Take away the shingles and the screen door and you've got a log cabin that dates back to the days when the Hudson's Bay Company first came to this area. And in a year or so, if the funds are available, the house at 890 - 9th Avenue SE will be restored to its original condition as part of the Fort Cagary project. Mrs. Soby said that the cabin, which was built sometime between 1876 and 1981, was probably used by the Hudson's Bay Company as a home for its interpreter or freighter. 'After the company left the area, it became a private home,' she said. The last resident was William Hunt, who lived the house until his death 1975. During his years there, he covered it with single but left the original structure untouched. It still has its original poles and the logs seem to be in pretty good shape, she said. While the area around the cabin might contain artifacts from the past, digging is being considered at this time. 'We don't have the money to do a full archeological dig,' said Mrs. Soby. But she added that work at the site might be possible in the future. In meantime workers are scheduled in begin landscaping and recontouring the area this fall in an effort to make it 'look like it did to the site's first in habitants. A greenhouse at the site is scheduled to be taken down Thursday or Friday of this week. 'It's quite fragile and with that much glass around, it could become a problem,' said Mrs. Soby. * * * AN HISTORIC SITE IS BORN Historicaly Important Hudson Bay Company Building in Calgary One of the three longest-standing Hudson Bay Company structures, a Calgary Log building, has become a classified historic site. The building is historically important as one of less than 25 known structures pre-dating 1882 in Alberta, according to Schimid's department. Despite little documentation, historians believe the Hudson Bay Company built it between 1876 and 1881, possibly as the home of the company's interpreter. It is probably the oldest Calgary building still on its original site. It stands across the Elbow River from Fort Calgary's former location and was once associated with the operations of the Northwest Mounted Police and the beginning of settlement around the fort. The last resident was William Hunt, who willed it to the city in 1974. The log structure has received the name W.H. Hunt House.

Internal

Designation Status:	Designation Date:
Provincial Historic Resource	1977/01/18

Register:

Links

Internet:
Alberta Register of Historic Places:	4665-0478