1421 2A St NW
1421 2 ½ Street NW
(Today known as 2A Street NW)
This house was constructed in 1910 in the former Village of Crescent Heights. Calgary at the time was a small but rapidly expanding city on the other side of the river bank. A few years later, by the time the Village of Crescent Heights was annexed by the city, Calgary counted only about 43, 000 inhabitants.
The first occupant was the Jipps family who had arrived in about 1906 from Queensferry, Scotland. The patriarch, Charles Henry Jipps was a mason by trade and born April 3, 1872. His wife was named Ellen and born about 1871. Their, teenaged son alexander Black was born October 31, 1893 and a teamster by trade (hose team driver). Charles Henry most probably had been attracted by the rapidly-growing city that offered employment for a mason. He would have been involved in building some of the brick buildings that made up the downtown core and maybe some of the school and municipal buildings in this nighbourhood.
On December 31, 1914, the son enlisted in the 50th Royal Canadian Infantry Battalion. On January 7, 1915 his father Charles Henry enlisted in the Canadian overseas Expedition Force and joined the 38th Infantry Battalion. Both eventually fought during WWI in France.
Sadly, Ellen Jipps died in Calgary in 1917 during their absence. Both men survived the war, but it is unknown if father and son returned to Canada or stayed behind in Scotland or England as some soldiers did. One thing is for sure, at the end of the war and after the death of Ellen the main occupant changed.
During the 1916 Federal Census, 5 other occupants were listed as this address besides the Jipps family: Alex Stewart (policeman, Irish, age 33) Ellen Beauchamp (nurse, English age 34), A. Michalson (soldier, Scottish, age 25), Augustus Hulth (soldier, Irish, age 28) and Fred Ward (soldier, Irish, age 33). Since both Henry and Alexander were actually at war but still listed as occupants, it is also possible that the three soldiers did not live here at the time but rather called this their permanent address. Ellen most likely took on boarders to help her income while the men of the family were at war.
Most probably the nurse and the policeman occupied each, one of the two separate basement suites that were in existence until a remodel in the late 1990s The soldiers may have called the 3rd floor loft their home when or if they were in Calgary. The loft to this day has a private lockable door.
Currently we are undergoing landscaping to allow for better use of garden space by two growing boys.
Photographs:
Sheep grazing on present location of Crescent Heights High School 1914 to 1918
Bird’s eye view of Calgary, August 1911
Crescent Heights Real Estate office A.J. McArthur
First streetcar in Crescent Heights district June 22, 1911
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