Old Timers' Cabin

Opened in 1959, this rustic log cabin features a huge stone fireplace, planed poplar floor, window frames made of spruce, and cedar shingles on the gable roof.  It was built by a 76-year-old log craftsman named Hobart Dowler for the Northern Alberta Pioneers and Descendants Association.  Designed and constructed of spruce logs at Dowler’s property on Pigeon Lake, each log was fitted, then numbered before being dismantled and rebuilt on a field stone foundation in Edmonton. Dowler used notch and saddle-style connections to form a tight weather proof fit without the need of chinking or plaster. 

The cabin was situated in the river valley on Scona Hill, on a site which had been leveled to provide fill for the Low Level Bridge. The cabin is a relatively modern example of log construction. The style was consciously chosen for its status as a pioneer icon, reflecting the Northern Alberta Pioneers and Descendants Association’s connection with the past. The cabin was expanded in 1988 to include a conference room, elevator, accessible washrooms and a bar in the basement.