It might not look like much, but beneath the ol’ Hub Hotel’s pockmarked walls and faux-stone facade hides the remnants of Jasper House, the first brick building between Vancouver and Winnipeg.

The Transit Hotel speaks to a different time — one where the roads were dirt, horses outnumbered cars, and meatpacking was Edmonton’s big claim to fame.

Built by a prominent businessman and once home to some of Alberta’s first Lebanese immigrants, the Archibald Block is an important link to Old Strathcona’s earliest days.

This threatened heritage home, tucked away off Jasper Avenue, was once home to two of Edmonton’s earliest pioneers.