Calgary's oldest link to the past is a fading storage shed

A recently uncovered photo has proven that a rundown shed tucked among the bushes in an Inglewood backyard is Calgary's oldest building.

Hunt House is behind Fort Calgary's Deane House restaurant on 9 Avenue.

A photo has confirmed suspicions that the cabin was part of the Hudson's Bay fur trading post, sitting exactly where it was built back in 1876.

"It was pretty exciting when we saw this picture," said Sara Gruetzner, head of Fort Calgary, on Thursday.

"The Hunt House, as far as we know, is the oldest building in Calgary, in its original location."

$15-million restoration plan

An employee of Fort Calgary heard about the photo and tracked it down to an amateur historian in the community of Monarch about a year ago.

Now that the connection between the Hudson's Bay company and Hunt House has been established, Fort Calgary has begun to concentrate on preserving the Calgary landmark.

As part of a $15-million plan to pump new life into the Fort Calgary lands, Hunt House will be restored and given a protective cover.

"I think most people in the rest of Canada see Calgary as all new, and with no heart or soul, no past. I think projects like this help to dispel that myth," said Gruetzner.

Building has a story to tell

The boards, paint andwallpaper all have a story to tell, one that dates back to Calgary's origins, said Lorne Simpson, a conservation architect.

Built on the east side of the Elbow River around the same time as Fort Calgary, the cabin was home to a Hudson's Bay Company official.

William Hunt lived in the house until the mid-1970s when he willed the property to the city. It has sat, untouched, as a storage shed for the last 30 years.

Fort Calgary staff suspected its origins dated back to the Hudson's Bay Company, but couldn't confirm it until finding the photo.