Father Lacombe Chapel

Father Lacombe Chapel

Father Lacombe Chapel, located in St. Albert, is generally considered to be the oldest surviving building in Alberta. The chapel was built in 1861 by Father Albert Lacombe, an Oblate of Mary Immaculate missionary. In the early 1860s Father Lacombe became concerned with the future of the Métis. He established a new mission settlement near Fort Edmonton, which was named St. Albert by Bishop A. Taché after Lacombe's patron saint. Father Lacombe spent only 4 years at the St. Albert mission before he moved south to establish a mission among the Blackfoot. Nevertheless the St. Albert settlement grew into a modern city.

The chapel was built by Métis craftsmen using "post on sill" (or Red River frame) construction and served the community until 1870 when it was replaced by a larger church. The chapel survived, however, because it was reused for storage. In 1929 it was converted into the Father Lacombe Museum, and in 1977 it was declared a provincial Historic Site. In the early 1980s it was acquired by the Alberta government and moved to its present location on Mission Hill in St Albert. The site is open to the public from mid-May to early September.