Landmark Building
FRANK MITCHELL'S MUSEUM
Victoria Settlement
Built in 1960
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John A. Mitchell came to Pakan in 1899. He bought and re-opened the Hudson’s Bay Company store, which he ran as a general store until 1921. In 1908 he purchased the Clerk’s Quarters, which he used as a residence. John’s son Frank was a young boy when the family arrived at Pakan; he stayed for the rest of his life. In later years Frank became interested in preserving and communicating the history of the area. To do so, he started a museum. During the 1960s, he collected artefacts from the surrounding countryside and talked to many pioneers about their experiences. To tell the story of the Victoria post and the surrounding settlement, Mitchell acquired this building to display the things he had collected. He also built a model, adjacent to the museum, showing the Victoria post as it was at the height of fur trading activity.
Mitchell’s museum building is itself something of an artefact. It is the former home of Benjamin Sinclair Jr., who held the patent title on River Lot 10 of the Lobstick Settlement. His father was Benjamin Sinclair Sr., the well-known Aboriginal missionary. Having acquired the building, Mitchell numbered the logs, took the house apart, and reassembled it here in the 1960s. Like the free trader’s house on River Lot 3, this building has dovetail-notched corners.
After Mitchell died in 1975, his museum was open intermittently, but eventually the artefacts were moved to a museum in Smoky Lake. Today, the building and parts of his model of Victoria post are all that remain of Mitchell’s museum. Its function of relating the history of the area is now carried on by the Victoria Settlement Interpretive Centre.
The Landmark Buildings and Places Database draws on the series of walking and/or driving tour booklets produced by Alberta Culture (now Alberta Culture and Community Spirit). The Heritage Community Foundation gratefully acknowledges the support of the Ministry through permission to reprint these materials online. Extracted from Victoria Trail, Kalyna County: Historical Walking and Driving Tours. Alberta Community Development and Kalyna County Ecomuseum, 2004, with permission from Alberta Culture and Community Spirit. Visit the Alberta Culture and Community Spirit for more information.