Hunt House, Calgary’s oldest standing building, built in 1876.
You have probably walked, biked, and possibly even parked beside this 137 year old wooden shack on numerous occasions, taking little notice of its dilapidated exterior, hidden under mature trees and various shrubs, withering away with each passing day.
Designated as one of Canada’s Historic Places the “Hunt House”, named after the previous owner who after his passing in 1975 willed the house to the city, is a one-story log building positioned within a stone’s throw of the Deanne House located in the historic neighbourhood of Inglewood. Built in 1876 along the east side of the river, the Hudson’s Bay Company constructed this building to be used as residency for their various workers in the fur trade. Stated to be the oldest standing building on its original plot of land in Calgary, this little wooden shack provides us with a rare glimpse of our early Calgarian architectural heritage.
Used as a residency until 1975 and later as a storage shed, this building is now covered with old wooden shingles and a mossy moist roof. The doors and windows have been boarded up and the old paint is slowly being chipped away. However, plans are now underway with Fort Calgary to have the building properly restored to its former glory for all of us to enjoy, now and forever.
Hunt House, unknown date.
Categories: Calgary History
The Road Trip Hound 
Thank you for sharing this historic tidbit about Calgary. Spending much time in Europe, it is easy to ignore the history we have here in Calgary as well. It is so important to preserve, share and learn about it – no place, after all, can continue moving forward if it does not first understand its roots!
Keep blogging and writing, yours is a great contribution!
Thank you very for the compliment, it’s greatly appreciated!
It has been a fun/informative journey.
Amazing that the building still stand, especially since it looks like it is made of wood only.
Yes, I agree with you!