HISTORY

6000 years ago: Bison Roam

100 years ago: The Crag Cabin

9 years ago: The Vision

The centrepiece of Bison Courtyard is an historic cabin with over a century of stories embedded in it. It was built between 1888 and 1890 by Athanese Laurendeau, a young baker. It has stood on Bear Street all its life.

Lauendeau followed a simple architectural style - log walls with whitewashed vertical log corner-posts - known in Canada as the Hudson's Bay Corner style. The cabin's walls are 23 feet high. It has deep overhanging eaves, a high pyramid hip roof, and features both Lodgepole Pine and Engelman Spruce logs.

Through the years, the building has served as a baker's house, a butcher shop, gas station, funeral home and hardware store. The cabin is best known as the early home of the Crag & Canyon newspaper. Banff's weekly paper, which was once owned by Norman Luxton and is still being published, used the cabin as a base from 1901 to 1929.

Arctos & Bird restored the "Old Crag Cabin" at the same time the company constructed Bison Courtyard. They intended it to serve as a strong symbol of Banff's roots as the Town entered its 21st century.

In 2008, the Banff Heritage Corporation recognized Arctos & Bird's initiative with its Annual Award for Restoration, Rehabilitation and Adaptive Reuse of a Heritage Building. "The outstanding restoration effort... is a testament to the company's commitment to environmental and heritage conservation."

To learn more, view this video vignette.