Buffalo Cafe

1886 Cafe

This is a great little cafe located in the heart of downtown Calgary close to the river. It's called simply '1886 Buffalo Cafe' and it serves great breakfasts.
1886 is actually the date the Eau Claire & Bow River Lumber company was established making this one of the oldest buildings in Calgary. Dwarfed by the tower blocks surrounding it, this little place is a real survivor.
In 1884 (the closest year for which I can find records) Calgary's population was a grand total of 504 souls. Today the city is home to well over 1 million people and still growing. This is an amazing transformation from the Calgary of 1875 the year in which the first settlers (a couple of families only) and the Northwest Mounted police came to town!
It's fascinating to sit in this little cafe and look at the old photographs on the wall and try to imagine the Prairies when they were home to only the First Nations people and the buffalo. I often wonder if all the cahanges in between are really any improvement on what was here before.