NWMP Barracks

✨ About this place

Built in 1893, the Canmore NWMP Barracks is one of the town’s oldest surviving buildings. Only the Canmore Hotel and Ralph Connor Memorial Church are older. The site offers a glimpse into the history of policing in the Bow Valley and is one of Canmore’s two provincial historic resources.

Two North-West Mounted Police officers built the original barracks with dovetailed logs and a mixture of mud and straw between them. They also added a veranda that was absent from the approved plans, plus a barn and corral for their horses. Inside were a jail cell, an office, a kitchen and two bedrooms. Most of the time, just one officer lived at the post.

That changed in 1918, when Corporal Charles H. Clarke arrived with his wife, Dora, and their five children. To make room for the family, they added a sitting room and bedroom to the east side in 1923. The building is now maintained to reflect the period when the Clarkes lived there.

The NWMP left the barracks in 1929. After a period as a rental property, the building was sold in 1931. The Town of Canmore purchased it in 1989, and Alberta designated it a provincial historic resource the following year. The Canmore Museum cares for the site today.

What makes these barracks especially rare is their location: they remain on the spot where they were built. The former Banff barracks were moved to Heritage Park in Calgary, while the building at Writing-on-Stone/Áísínai’pi Provincial Park is a reconstruction.

Visitors can also explore the public heritage garden, which features more than 500 varieties of flowers and traditional vegetable crops. Summer programming has included weekend opportunities to learn about Stoney Nakoda culture, language and traditions from cultural interpreters, along with special programs focused on traditional life.