Gibbons Residence

10534 - 125 Street, Edmonton

The Gibbons residence was the retirement home of one of Edmonton's more colourful individuals. James Gibbons was born on Christmas day 1837 in Holly Hill, Donegal Ireland and immigrated to America in 1856. Over the next nine years he participated in various gold rushes in California, British Columbia, Idaho and Montana. His arrival in Edmonton in the mid 1860s followed reports of gold discoveries in the area.

From his arrival in Edmonton in the mid 1860s through to his retirement from the position of Indian Agent at Stony Plain in 1908 Gibbons played a variety of roles in the economic and administrative life of Edmonton. He mined gold on the North Saskatchewan River, traded furs with the Indians and homesteaded land that now makes up Edmonton's Laurier Park. After 1891 he conducted his business activities in a less itinerant manner, operating a wholesaler liquor store until he was appointed Indian Agent at Stony Plain in 1896. Following his retirement in 1908 he purchased the property for the construction of this house that was completed in 1911.

Gibbons' career and his retirement home thus reflect the transition of Edmonton from a fur trade outpost under the control of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) to an emerging urban centre in the new province of Alberta.



The Gibbons Residence is modeled after Georgian Revival residential designs that were popular across Canada and the Unites States from the 1880s through to 1915. Characteristics of this classically derived style in the brick Gibbons house include its symmetry, its hipped roof, the broad overhand with brackets under the eaves, a central doorway and a veranda supported by twin box columns.

-Alberta Culture and Community Spirit, Historic Resources Management Branch, Old St. Stephen's College, 8820 - 112 Street, Edmonton, AB T6G 2P8 (File: Des. 386)

SEE ALSO:

Alberta Register of Historic Places: Gibbons Residence

Designation & Awards

Registered Historic Resource (1987/05/04)

Era: Urban Growth
Themes: Homes
Cultural Groups:
Area: Northwest

Gibbons Residence. Photo by AB Culture & Community Spirit, 1992.

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