Ewart-Duggan House in Medicine Hat

Considered to be the oldest brick home in the province of Alberta, the Ewart-Duggan house built in 1887 is located next to the Esplanade in downtown Medicine Hat.  It received designation as a provincial historic resource in 1993.  Much like the notoriety that Medicine Hat received for producing stoneware and a variety of domestic clay products, the city was also instrumental in producing industrial clay products, including bricks and pipes for the same reasons.

If you can picture that most of the town was made up of tents and wooden structures in 1887, this home would've been quite the landmark at the time.  The Ewart-Duggan residence now stands as an example of the regions history and economic roots, and celebrates its 125th anniversary this year. 

According to Archives Canada "In 1883, John Ewart moved west with the rails. He met Thomas Tweed in Winnipeg, and the two proceeded further west together, first by rail, then by horse and buggy. The two arrived in Medicine Hat before the CPR, and established a general store in a tent on the riverbank. The business was called "Tweed and Ewart".  John Ewart married Jessie Herald, the daughter of the local Presbyterian Minister James Herald [see my photos of St. John's Presbyterian Church here] in 1887. Their home, a red brick house now located at 433 1st Street SE, was also built the same year."  After the death of Mr. and Mrs. Ewart, their daughter Jacqueline and her husband Hector O. Duggan lived in the home.

See more of my Around the Hat photo series here.

Ewart Duggan home ca. 1910