Fort Calgary Fort Calgary was established in 1875 as Fort Brisebois by the North - West Mounted Police , located at the confluence of the Bow and Elbow rivers in what is now Calgary , Alberta . History . The construction of the fort was initiated on April 10 , 1875 by a federal order to force out whiskey trade rs from the area . Commanded by Éphrem A . Brisebois , " F " Troop travelled north from Fort Macleod to find a suitable spot on the Bow for the fort . On arrival at the location they made a makeshift boat with a wagon box and tarpaulins to cross the Bow . Corporal George Clift King was the first member of the troop to set foot on the location , which is why he is sometimes cited as Calgary ' s first citizen . Construction began in August or September and the fort was completed in time to host Christmas dinner for the local residents . The fort was constructed out of pine and spruce logs cut upstream and floated to the site . Buildings included men ' s quarters , a guard room , stables and storage facilities . Shortly after the erection of the fort , two businesses set up operation in the vicinity ; I . G . Baker Company and the Hudson ' s Bay Company . The post was originally called " The Elbow " or " Bow Fort " . Captain Brisebois attempted to rename the fort after himself , but due to his unpopularity , it was renamed Fort Calgary in 1876 by James MacLeod , after Calgary House , a castle at Calgary Bay on the Isle of Mull , Scotland . With the decline in whiskey and buffalo trade , the fort was down to four constables by 1880 . However , in preparation for the arrival of the railway , much of the fort was torn down in 1882 and new barracks were constructed . The arrival of the railway in 1883 and the subsequent rapid growth and expansion of Calgary destroyed the post ' s reason for existing . A two - storey building that could house 100 men was built in 1888 , since a fire in 1884 had destroyed one of the barracks . Deane House . The Deane House was built nearby in 1906 for the Superintendent of Fort Calgary , Captain Richard Deane . It was originally constructed near 9th Ave and 6th St SE , facing east towards the barracks . Deane felt the previous superintendent ' s house was not good enough for his wife Martha . Although the budget for the project was $ 5 , 000 , the total cost was $ 6 , 200 . In 1914 , The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway bought the land for $ 250 , 000 for use as a rail terminal and demolished all the fort buildings except the Deane House . The house was moved to the southeast corner from its original location . The house was then purchased by C . L . Jacques in 1929 and moved across the Elbow River , where it stands today . It was used as a boarding house for several decades until the City of Calgary repurchased the building . In the 1970s it was used as an Art gallery , called The Dandelion Gallery . Today it is a restaurant . In 1969 - 1970 , an archaeological crew from the University of Calgary began searching for the Fort at the then current site of McCosham ' s warehouse . The site was eventually located under a storage yard behind the McCosham ' s building . The crew unearthed original wooden beams from the Fort and a multitude of historical artifacts . In 1974 , the city of Calgary reclaimed the land and it was designated a provincial and National Historic Site . The present site was reopened on May 18 , 1978 . A replica of the 1888 barracks was completed in 2000 at the current fort site , followed by the erection of palisades . The site is operated by the Fort Calgary Preservation Society . Affiliations . The Museum is affiliated with : CMA , CHIN , and Virtual Museum of Canada .