Fort Calgary

Fort Calgary (The Confluence Historic Site & Parkland)
Native name
Mohkinstsis; Wîchîspa; Guts'ists'i
North-West Mounted Police with Kainai Nation members at Fort Calgary, 1878
EtymologyCalgary House, a castle at Calgary Bay on the Isle of Mull, Scotland
Location750 9th Avenue SE
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Coordinates51°02′43″N 114°02′44″W / 51.04528°N 114.04556°W / 51.04528; -114.04556
Area12 hectares (30 acres)
Built1875
Original useNorth-West Mounted Police outpost
Demolished1914
Current useMuseum, park, social centre
Governing bodyFort Calgary Preservation Society
OwnerCity of Calgary
Websitewww.fortcalgary.com
Official nameFort Calgary National Historic Site of Canada
Designated15 May 1925

Fort Calgary was a North-West Mounted Police outpost at the confluence of the Bow and Elbow rivers in present-day Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Originally named Fort Brisebois, after the outpost's first commander, the outpost was renamed Fort Calgary in June 1876.

The outpost was built in 1875 as a part of the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) larger effort to curtail American rum and whisky runners in the region, and to establish relationships with the Indigenous peoples of the territory. The fort was expanded in 1882 after it was designated as a "district post". The NWMP continued to use the fort until 1914 when the site was sold to Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. The fort was demolished to make way for a rail terminal.

The site was later purchased by the municipal government of Calgary in 1973, with work on an interpretive centre taking place in 1977. The site was reopened as a historic site and museum in 1978, with the museum initially documenting the NWMP and its role in the area. The scope of the museum was later reoriented in 1995 to focus on the local history of Calgary. During the 1990s, reconstructions of several buildings that once stood at Fort Calgary took place at the historic site.

The site now operates as The Confluence Historic Site & Parkland.


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