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Fort Victoria
Pakan, Near
Other Names:
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Clerk's House
Clerk's Quarters
Clerk's Residence
Factor's House
Fort Victoria Cairn
Fort Victoria Historic Site
H. B. C. Clerk's Quarters
H.B.C. Clerk's Quarters
HBC Clerk's Quarters
Hudson's Bay Company Clerk's Quarters
Traders House
Victoria Post
Victoria Settlement
Victoria Settlement Historic Site
Victoria Settlement Provincial Historic Site
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Statement of Significance
Description of Historic Place
The Fort Victoria Provincial Historic Resource is included within the boundaries of Victoria Settlement Rural District National Historic Site. The designated site includes a Red River frame wooden Clerk's Quarters - the last remaining structure from the Hudson's Bay Company post of Fort Victoria - as well as significant archaeological resources. It is located on the north bank of the North Saskatchewan River, on River Lot Six of Victoria Settlement, near Smoky Lake, Alberta. Victoria Settlement is operated by the Historic Sites and Cultural Facilities Branch of Alberta Community Development as an interpreted historic site.
Heritage Value
The Fort Victoria Clerk's Quarters is an excellent example of a mid-nineteenth century Hudson's Bay Company post-on-sill or Red River frame wooden structure. It was the centre of the Company's activity and interaction with Aboriginal traders and the local Metis settlers. Its physical setting on a North Saskatchewan river lot adjacent to the Victoria Trail made it an integral part of the water- and trail-based transportation routes of Western Canada's fur trade network.
The Hudson's Bay Company was attracted to Victoria Settlement by the presence of a large English-speaking Metis river lot settlement established through the initiative of Rev. George McDougall next to the Victoria Methodist Mission. Victoria Post operated between 1864-1883 and 1887-1897. The Clerk's Quarters at Fort Victoria, completed in 1865, is the first and only remaining structure from the post complex. In addition there are several archaeological sites: some associated with post, some predating construction of Fort Victoria by as many as several thousand years.
Source: Alberta Culture and Community Spirit, Historic Resources Management Branch (File: Des. 713)
Character-Defining Elements
The character-defining elements of the Clerk's Quarters include:
- the Hudson's Bay or Red River frame construction of a post-on-sill structure incorporating vertical posts and horizontal logs;
- exterior lath finish covered in mixture of clay and slaked lime;
- utilitarian design of symmetrically placed windows, chimneys, gable roof with central dormer, and a simple interior plan in which both upper and main floors consist of just two areas divided by a central hall;
- significant landscape or location features including the placement of the Clerk's Quarters on river lot Six, Victoria Settlement, and its physical relationship to the Victoria Trail and the North Saskatchewan River;
- archaeological resources relating to use of this area by Aboriginal peoples and the larger post complex that once surrounded the surviving structure.
Location
| Street Address: |
Victoria Settlement Provincial Historic Site |
| Community: |
Pakan, Near |
| Boundaries: |
Block A, Plan 7822470 |
| Contributing Resources: |
Archaeological Site/Remainss: 1
Buildings: 1
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ATS Legal Description:
PBL Legal Description (Cadastral Reference):
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Plan |
Block |
Lot |
Parcel |
7822470
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A (ptn.)
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N/A
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Latitude/Longitude:
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Latitude |
Longitude |
CDT |
Datum Type |
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54.003910 |
-112.400575 |
Secondary Source |
NAD 83 |
UTM Reference:
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Northing |
Easting |
Zone |
CDT |
Datum Type |
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Recognition
| Recognition Authority: |
Province of Alberta |
| Designation Status: |
Provincial Historic Resource |
| Date of Designation: |
1976/06/15 |
Historical Information
| Built: |
1864 to 1865 |
| Significant Date(s) |
1864 to 1897 |
| Theme(s) |
Developing Economies : Trade and Commerce
Peopling the Land : Settlement
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| Historic Function(s): |
Commerce / Commercial Services : Trading Post
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| Current Function(s): |
Leisure : Historic or Interpretive Site
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| Architect: |
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| Builder: |
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| Context: |
N/A |
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Additional Information
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