Description of Historic Place

The North-West Mounted Police (N.W.M.P) Married Officers’ Quarters is located on the ‘Government Reserve’, a rectangular block of land, on what was the site of Fort Herchmer in present-day Dawson City. It is an ‘L’-shaped, log structure with a low-pitch gable roof. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

Heritage Value

The N.W.M.P Married Officers’ Quarters is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental values.

Historical Value
The N.W.M.P Married Officers’ Quarters is one of the best examples of a building closely associated with the North-West Mounted Police, and their role in the rapid, early development of Dawson City during the Klondike Gold Rush. The building was originally constructed to house the Superintendent and then the officers of the N.W.M.P stationed at Fort Herchmer in Dawson City. It was used for this purpose until after the First World War. From 1923 until 1945 it served as a radio station for the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals; it then reverted to its original role as housing for RCMP officers until 1966. It is also one of Canada’s only remaining N.W.M.P buildings from this period.

Architectural Value
The N.W.M.P Married Officers’ Quarters is valued for its good, simple aesthetic. An early adaption of a building designed for sub-arctic frontier conditions, the building exhibits good functional design as seen in its exterior walls of peeled and saddle-notched logs. Rapidly constructed using green wood, and with rudimentary foundations, the structure retained its makeshift, functional character despite numerous improvements.

Environmental Value
The N.W.M.P Married Officers’ Quarters maintains an unchanged relationship to its site. It also reinforces the character and previous role of the government reserve area taken in association with the surviving structures of Fort Herchmer. It is a familiar landmark to residents and visitors.

Sources: Brian Dewalt, Married Officers’ Quarters, Government Reserve, Dawson City, Yukon, Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office Report 87-072; NWMP Married Officers’ Quarters, Government Reserve, Dawson City, Yukon Territory, Heritage Character Statement 87-072.

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the N.W.M.P Married Officers’ Quarters should be respected, for example.

Its good functional design and good construction and materials, as evidenced in:
- the low-walled, low-pitched form of the structure and its ‘L’-shaped massing with gable roof;
- the log construction of peeled local spruce logs, sawn on three sides and lapped at the corners;
- the main entrance in the centre of the west wall.

The manner in which the N.W.M.P Married Officers’ Quarters maintains an unchanged relationship to its site, reinforces the Fort Herchmer complex setting, and is a familiar landmark, as evidenced by:
- its overall design and materials that harmonize with its surroundings and reinforce the character of the other buildings within the fort setting;
- its role as an important component within the group of four surviving structures from the Fort Herchmer complex which makes it familiar to locals and visitors.