The home of North West Mounted Police (now the RCMP) superintendent Richard Burton Deane, built in 1906.
Text of first plaque in garden next to house:
THE DEANE HOUSE
A proper residence for the new commanding officer
THE DEANE HOUSE - With the appointment of a new Commanding Officer at Calgary's Mounted Police Barracks in 1906, came the need for a residence of the same calibre. The new Commanding Officer was Richard Burton Deane, and the residence is now known as the Deane House. Both have com to symbolize the changes inherent in a traditional, yet far from stagnant society
Work began on the house in August of 1906, and Deane himself described the new residence as "...the best house in Mounted Police occupancy at that date...".
The architecture of the Deane House is based on the Ontario Cottage syle yet it also demonstrates influence of various other residential forms popular in fashionable Canadian homes.
Clearly the home of the Commanding Officer was thought to be house of some stature, as Deane was given the responsibility of organizing a luncheon for Prince Fushimi of Japan, during his visit in 1907. The luncheon proved to be a success and the house deemed worth of such formal entertaining.
THE MOVE - The Deane House was originally located on the corner of todays 9th Avenue and 6th Street SE, where Deane lived until 1914. Following its purchase by the Grand Trunk Railway, the house was moved to the southeast corner of the Fort Calgary site where the Interpretive Centre now stands. It then became the station agent's residence. In 19129, the Deane House was sold to a local realtor named C.L. Jacques, who had it moved again - this time across the Elbow River to become a rooming house.
The relocating of the Deane House was so spectacular a feat, that it was reported in the 1930 edition of Popular Mechanics. The house was pulled across the river on skids with the aid of temporary pilings and a steam tractor.
The Deane residence served as a rooming house, the Gaspe Lodge, until 1972. It was then acquired by the City of Calgary, for eventual preservation as a historic site.
From the residence of a Commanding Officer, to a station agent... A rooming house... A historic site, the Deane House, through its multi-faceted history stands both as a symbol of Calgary's urban evolution and a developing society.
Text of the second plaque:
R. BURTON DEANE
Superintendent of the Mounted Police in Southern Alberta
1888-1914
Richard Burton Deane was a man of many faces. Deane had a militaristic style, complete with scorching convictions, and the ability to slice through opposition with a word. He saw the need for discipline, but was more inclined to give orders than to submit to them. As infuriating as he might have been, Deane was also a gentleman, whose Victorian ideals coloured his outlook and actions well into the 20th century. Deane was a competent and valuable asset to the NWMP and took his role as a Mounted Police officer seriously.
Throughout Deane's lifetime, the extent of his accomplishments and interests was impressive. He was a skilled theatrical actor, a magician, a proficient cricketer, and an avid gadener. Deane was proud of his Calgary home, where he lived with his second wife, Mary Dennehy until his retirement in 1914. (His first wife died shortly befre the move into the grand house.)
Deane himself was responsible for the fine gardens and lawn surrounding his residence, and he was most fond of the Caragana hedge "...to which [Deane] had devoted a great deal of time and money." With the sought garden overlooking the cricket field, Deane had a "rooted objection" to and could be heard "...swear[ing] loudly and coherently when some maniacal cricketer...had dashed through [the Caragana] in pursuit of his ball...".
The first set of compiled rules and regulations for the NWMP was formulated by R. Burton Deane. His contribution, as much through his rules as through his own conduct, helped to change opinion of the force as lacking in discipline. Through his dedication to his police duties, Dean moved up through the ranks to Inspector, then Superintendent and finally became a Commanding Officer.
Deane was a great man who commanded Fort Calgary during a time of extraordinary population growth and economic development.
A diamond-shaped blue plaque explains why the core of downtown Calgary is now west of here:
[Caption:] Calgary's first townsite, east of the Elbow River, 1883.
Inglewood's Heritage - Early Calgary
Tents, huts, shacks and eventually some hastily built frame buildings often appear in early photos of western Canadian communities. Squatters and legitimate landowners east of the Elbow River in the early 1880's built just such a town while awaiting the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1883. Confident that prosperity and good fortune would arrive as soon as the railway built its station in the middle of their community, these people were shocked when the railway ignored their town, crossed the Elbow and built its first station further west. Undaunted, East Calgary residents and their descendants continued promoting Calgary's first settlement.
Inglewood Community Association - 1989