Visit Heritage Park
1900 Heritage Dr. S.W. Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2V 2X3
Email: info@heritagepark.ca
Phone: 403.268.8500
Homesteaders’ Tent Cabin
Closed
Hours of Operation
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Monday
10:00 am - 5:00 pm
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Tuesday
10:00 am - 5:00 pm
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Wednesday
10:00 am - 5:00 pm
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Thursday
10:00 am - 5:00 pm
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Friday
10:00 am - 5:00 pm
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Saturday
10:00 am - 5:00 pm
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Sunday
10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Exhibit Details
Category
Building/Museum
About the Homesteaders' Tent Cabin
Heritage Park built this tent cabin in 1976 to portray a form of temporary accommodation frequently used by homesteaders and businesses before 1900.
During massive population booms in Alberta, urban centres such as Calgary, Medicine Hat, Red Deer and Edmonton experienced housing shortages. Between 1901 and 1911, for example, Calgary’s population rocketed from 4,392 to 43,704. In the same time frame, Red Deer’s population shot skyward from 323 to 2,118. There simply weren’t enough houses to accommodate this great influx of people, and it was too expensive to rent a house, or live in a hotel or boardinghouse. Until better housing could be found, many families chose to live in tents or tent cabins.
