Fort Calgary National Historic Site

This was ok venue to visit for some history of the Calgary area and the founding of the city.   It is a smallish museum with a variety of artifacts and such and we were given about a 30 minute talk by one of the staffers, Nicole.  The stop was on our tour group itinerary and otherwise this place would not have made my personal to-see list.

Fort Calgary National Historic Site of Canada is a square-shaped wooden fort on the west bank of the Elbow River at its junction with the Bow River. It is on the same site as the original fort, the present structure is a reconstruction on a 40-acre park. In 1875, it was Fort Brisebois by the North West Mounted Police. Then the fort included men's quarters, a guard room, stables and storage facilities surrounded by a palisade of vertical logs. The setting is a flat parcel of land which slopes gently towards the river & supports several large trees. Official recognition refers to the parcel of land that is approximately 12 hectares surrounding the location of Fort Calgary.

Site of the original Fort Calgary. The original fort was destroyed when it was sold to the Canadian Railroad in the early 1900s. The structure standing today houses replicas of rooms in the fort and original artifacts. The entire tour will take about an hour. There are some interactive exhibits like the movie and you can also try on Mountie uniforms. Overall it was a fun historical trip.

I am use to the Fort with walls surrounding the compound. This fort is different and does not has wall. It is not the military base but the mountains police. In the late 18th century they has this fort for the center command. They bring law and order to the region and establish the initial city of Calgary. If there is no fort, there will be no City of Calgary. The history has extended to deep root of the city established and keep the law and order. The mountain police has make peace and friend to the First Nation which is the Indian of the local. They are actually the pioneer to west. The current fort has many history of the city. It is also the education center to the children. I saw children who are visiting has a chance to dress up like mountain police and the settler in the pass. A lot of fun. At the back of the fort including the community garden with planting the real veggies. Please give at least 1.5 hour to visit. The do have short film to introduce the history.

I was in Calgary for a business trip and had a free morning. Fort Calgary was a great way to spend it. Very good presentation of Calgary from early in its history. Not only were the displays well done, they had people available to answer questions and talk about the fort and history of the area. Very impressive. I highly recommend a visit.

This little museum facility in Calgary has a great mix of historical information and interactivity (I love the fact that you can put on the red serge and have your photo taken as if you were a North West Mounted Police person!). It is rather a small facility so one should be aware of this, although they are planning a major expansion in the coming years so that might change. I was visiting (and volunteering) at one of their most busy events: the Family Day Winter Carnival. And this event was a very busy one indeed, but it was well run including activities for children and adults alike (though most activities were oriented toward children and young families). Food services were top notch in this facility and the outdoor space was very well utilized for sleigh rides, maple taffy on the snow, and hot chocolate while the indoor space included a scavenger hunt, crafts, temporary tattoos, carnival games and performances in the theatre! The volunteer program here is quite well developed and the use of veterans to help out with aspects of the event was very beneficial to all the attendees. Overall I was quite pleased with how well run this very small facility is and would recommend a visit if you have a young family, or if you have a small amount of time and would like to learn more about the early history of the North West Mounted Police.

As an event venue, couldn't recommend more. We had our wedding there and are still hearing rave reviews about the food and scenery from our guests. As hosts, we experienced reliable, responsive and high-quality service from the planning right down to the communication day-of. We were so impressed with how smoothly the day went, and how well everything turned out in photos. We picked the fort based on going there for brunch and remarking on how good the food was. We decided to explore it as a venue, and were very happy to learn how reasonable it was for the amount of people we had incited. The cost of the entire wedding equalled some of the minimum spend we had been quoted at other spots in town. You can't beat the scenery either. Being right on the river is a great place for photos and the fort is a cool place for out of towners to explore. All in all we are so happy with how our wedding went and would love to attend other nuptials there in the future.

A must visit while in Calgary.   The volunteers were friendly and helpful.  My kids enjoyed dressing up as Mounties.  They also had the opportunity to play with some of the interactive exhibits.  The history timeline was fun and easy to read for the whole family - well done!

Fort Calgary was a disappointment. The Interpretive Centre is pretty small & the map they gave us was confusing because not all the areas were labelled. We almost stumbled into a room where a private function was being held because we were going the wrong way. The artifacts themselves from the RCMP & etc were very interesting though. I think the layout of the museum needs to be improved. Some of the rooms with the artifacts were so tiny & with a group from a tour bus there at the same time it was pretty crowded.

Sunday brunch at fort calgary is definitely a hindden gem. It's fresh family brunch served with organic history( amazing food + unique historic setting+ museum access. Sunday brunch from 1030-2pm $27 adults, book early

Free parking. Several int resting articles and displays about the frontier life and beginnings of the mounted police in the area. Museum contains displays about the native people of the land too. The gift shop has a small assortment of books and the usual items. Make sure to ask if there are volunteers using the museum treadle (foot powered) lathe. It is not a display it, but if you are lucky you can catch the volunteers working with the lathe. They have the entire history of the historical piece of equipment. Lots of hands on things for kids to do concerning the displays as well.

Murder Mystery evening at Fort Calgary. Yes please! As no one in our work group had done a murder mystery dinner before our christmas party seemed like the perfect excuse to go. And it was. Really blown away by what a great evening it was. Was told that Fort Calgary is open before the show starts and you can look around. Honestly not sure if this is true or what the rest of Fort Calgary looks like as we were in time to get a drink and our seats before it all started. Presented our tickets to one of the managers who told us where we were seated. They seem to put all the people booked under the same name at the same table which made it very pleasant not to have to worry about being separated all over the place. Round tables seem to sit 6-8 with more than enough space. Drink selection was very wide and covered everything on the basics. If you are looking for the top shelf stuff you may not get it here but we had no issues getting everything we felt for drinking. Bar service was a little slow to start but there was only one lady serving there. Once we realised their were waiters on hand to help it made the drinks service much speedier. Food was delightful and so much better then the general buffet options I always expect. Started with the most delicious fresh biscuits and butter on our table. The actors had a really innovative way of choosing the table as they went up for food and kept everyone entertained while they were waiting - handled very well and the wait to get food sped by. Buffet had a wide variety of vegetable (kale, spaghetti squash, mashed potatoes, gnocchi in cheese sauce with cauliflower and corn), salad options (lettuce wedges, tomatoes with mozzarella, fennel salad) and chicken thighs grilled with a light sauce. Everything tasted fresh and healthy - not drowning in oil or sauce at any point. The kitchen does a great job and based on our meal this evening would really be interested to go back and try the brunch they have at the Fort. Dessert came towards the end of the show and there were more than enough options to please anyone. Once again dessert was doing really well and nothing served was bland or just ok. They put a lot of effort into the food and it really shows. Coffee came complimentary during dessert. In regards to the show - we saw the Christmas show. Nick Clause, all his employees, an inspector, murder most foul and laughs a plenty. There was a kid of about 12 in the audience and even though the innuendo ran deep at all times, they kept everything above board so would happily bring older kids to enjoy the show. The actors walk around the whole time chatting to every table telling you stories about the other characters and giving you "clues". At the end you vote on who did it with a prize for the person who gets it the closest. They also read out some of the worse guesses - amazing guesses from the audience, lots of laughs! Had an amazing time and would highly recommend it for an evening out. Worth every penny and more!

I've attended a few events here now from a community group luncheon, a Stampede party, a weekend afternoon information session, to an evening celebration. Fort York is a great space for a mid size event (less than 100-125 people I'd say in the spaces I've been in). The event rooms have character rustic charm and warmth. The catering is great whether it be a meal or reception type snacks/hors d'oeuvres . I find the staff to be friendlier and more welcoming than a lot of competing spaces (hotel venues etc) are. Judging by the variety of events I've attended, the clearly are able to cater to most budgets, whether it be corporate or non profit and the quality does not suffer. There is a decent amount of parking available too and they are a quick cab ride from downtown - perfect if your party/event has out of town guests or if your event is right after work. Events can be held during business hours or outside of the posted hours.

I have kids and we've never visited the inside of the Fort as a family!! How sad is that. However having said that I think they appreciated it more being a little older. Family Day was the day we dropped in to experience it all. We enjoyed the maple syrup outside for the event but were sad pandas they had no hot chocolate left. There were a lot of people inside but we managed to move through the museum and check out the displays as best we could while participating in the kids scavenger hunt. We quite enjoyed the museum and know we will be back again when it is perhaps a little quieter.

My husband and I attended a Murder Mystery dinner at Fort Calgary tonight. So much fun! The food was delicious with served appetizers and desserts and a buffet dinner. Everything was super tasty, and the wait staff were all excellent and attentive. The entertainment was a cast of seven actors who interacted with the audience and did the typical murder mystery scenario. Very funny stuff. Our table really got into the story and participated so it was a good laugh. We didn't tour through the other parts of Fort Calgary, as they were closed. We will definitely be back, and I will be booking an event at Fort Calgary for a non-profit I manage.

This Canadian historic site is a fun place to visit if you want to get a sense of how Calgary came to be. Fort Calgary is the symbolic heart of the City of Calgary, and this museum describes, through a sequence of rooms and exhibits, how the fort came to anchor the city, from the establishment of the fort itself by the predecessor of the RCMP, to the blooming of a city as ranchers, oilmen and other settlers found a home in the shade and protection of the fort. Several of the exhibits are fun to play with even if you don't care about the history. One of the rooms has many old time toys - dolls, jack in the boxes, board games and other wooden or mechanical playthings. A different room looks like a small broadcast booth complete with implements (chains, coconut shells, clapper) for reenacting a radio drama.

It's a respectable location for private functions. I've attended at least six events here and it's a nice change of scenery with lots of parking. They offer a good variety of delicious hors d'oeuvres with a few rare items. While on-site during the day, I have taken time to sit outside and enjoy the tranquility and landscape. As a Calgary resident, I feel I should pay the Interpretive Centre and Deane House a visit at least once. I may have seen some of the Centre before and if so, unfortunately it's not memorable. Solely based on my limited experience, I wouldn't put it high on the to-do list as far as tourist attractions go. Review 11 for Yelp's 30 Day Challenge - Nov 2012

Such a historic spot deserves better. The actual area of the old fort is in a public park and all that is there are 3 wooden buildings which appear to be used as sheds, a gate, and the old flag pole. My kids favorite part; playing with some rocks. Beside the physical location of the fort, is an interpretive center. I've seen dozens of these in my time and this is a fairly simple look into life of the late 19th and early 20th century. Essentially, the exhibits are just rooms with artifacts, some genuine, so they are cordoned off. There is a small theatre playing Dudley Do-Right shows back to back...perhaps they could have done better than this. My kids favorite part; playing with broken wooden (and some plastic) toys

I went with my daughters school! The lady we had was aweful, she looked like she worked there to long. It felt like we were in the army and shuffled through the place. She has no child bed side manner! We were not allowed to be loud keep in mind we were with 6 year olds come on!! The presentation was way to long and the kids had no snack or breaks for water... in the morning only a lunch break! Keeping schedule was more important! They hand out costumes for the kids but not all kids like dresses and I saw one little girl cry because she did not like dresses! The lady seemed put out by that!! We are not in 1869 not all girls like dresses now! They should have staff members more vibrant and can engage the kids with fun since the place is so dull!!! I will not recommend any school visit this place until they change the staff to a more kid friendly warmer approach!!!

Been in Calgary over two years now and I had no idea about any of its history. If you had told me that Calgary was founded in 1993 I would have had no reason to question you. I came here because my parents were in town and their isn't much else to do in Calgary. I wasn't really expecting much but it wasn't actually too bad. I learned a lot about how Calgary grew from a couple of buildings into a thriving(?) city and I enjoyed the layout and design of the place. All in all, I would not fault anybody for wanting to check this place out.

Our fiends had heir wedding here, so we were able to walk through the museum for free. It was nice walking through and learning some Calgary history. The venue upstairs for the reception was wonderful. Great place to visit or have a wedding!

We had some time to kill on a beautiful Saturday while visiting Calgary and thought we will check out this place. Although parking is supposed to free here, the security wouldn't let us park there unless we are actually paying the admission to the interpretive centre. He said it's because there's a wedding there that day and they want to make sure the guests have parking spots. We originally planned to just walk around outside but because of that bought the admission to the interpretive centre. It wasn't a bad experience over all. They try to recreate how things were in the old days while keeping everything indoor. The entire thing isn't very big, especially comparing to Fort Edmonton park. The videos they show inside are also a little bit dated but I guess it's not that big of a deal for a historical exhibit like this. They are apparently planning a second level expansion and maybe hey will have more contents then. At $12 per adult, I think it's a little bit expensive right now but it's an adorable little museum.

By the time we got here we were losing energy so we weren't as enthusiastic as we originally anticipated. It was very informative and we liked that they had an area to dress up as soldiers. They have the museum categorized which I liked. Their timeline for events in history is displayed as a modern day text, which we thought was weird but it is a unique spin to easily relay history to kids. They also had a pool table in the middle of the museum, which was random, but a good break between reading all the info. Overall, we thought it was overpriced for what it had to offer.