A historic Edmonton cabin from the '50s has ties to this small rural Alberta town
A picturesque log cabin sitting near Scona Road in Edmonton has quite the history, with a connection to a small town in the Alberta Foothills.
If you venture out to 9430 Scona Rd. NW, you’ll find the historic Northern Alberta Pioneers and Descendants Association Cabin.
The Northern Alberta Pioneers and Descendants Association was originally formed as the Northern Alberta Pioneers and Old Timers’ Association (NAPOTA) in 1894.
Dedicated to the preservation of the history of the city and region, it collected artifacts and historical documents and helped to preserve historic sites in Edmonton. These included Frank Oliver’s Edmonton Bulletin building and the original wooden McDougall Church, both now located at Fort Edmonton Park.
A plaque outside of the cabin from the City of Edmonton stated that the Association operated a memorial cabin at the Exhibition Grounds, but by the early 1950s, it needed a larger building. Working in close cooperation with City Council and city staff, the current site on Scona Hill was offered on a long-term lease to NAPOTA in 1956.
Laine Mitchell/Daily Hive
The organization jumped at the chance to build on the site, and fundraising began almost immediately. The logs of the Northern Alberta Pioneers and Descendants Cabin are saddle-notched with an axe, and form a tight, weatherproof wall without the aid of chinking or plaster. The building is constructed of spruce logs obtained from a stand near the Pembina River in the vicinity of the bridge at Drayton Valley, according to the Heritage Planner’s Statement of Significance on the cabin.
The logs were then taken to a site near Mission Beach on Pigeon Lake. Hobart A. Dowler, a noted log construction expert and member of NAPOTA, had property there, and the building was laid out and the logs all prepared and numbered for final assembly.
Hobart Dowler was known across Canada for his log and stone buildings. He homesteaded in the Edmonton area as early as 1900. His own home, made of logs, was built overlooking Pigeon Lake, where he assembled many of the other ones he built, including the Northern Alberta Pioneers and Descendants Cabin.
From 1935 to 1960, Dowler and his crew built between 80 and 100 stone and log cabins from material in the area. His buildings all showed the same style by using logs, notch and saddle style connections, split field stone foundations and the massive stone fireplaces in which only igneous rocks were used. Other clients for whom he constructed log buildings include the Central Alberta Pioneers, the Southern Alberta Pioneers Lodge, Rundle’s Mission Camp, Camp Wohelo, Camp Maskeptoon, the Alpine Club of Canada, and cabins at Glacier, Jasper, and Yoho National Parks.
The building site at Scona Hill was prepared for construction, and the materials were transported to Edmonton for final assembly in 1958, with the excavation for the site done free of cost by contractor Gordon McDonald. The building was completed in 1959 at a cost of $75,000.
Since its construction, the cabin has been used as a meeting place for members, for annual meetings, afternoon teas, council and committee meetings, and social events. It has also been rented out to a variety of community and corporate clients. In 1963, the cabin was used for four weeks by the City to give polio immunizations.
Have you visited the Northern Alberta Pioneers and Descendants Association Cabin in Edmonton? Let us know in the comments.