The following is excerpted from The Cliff Bungalow - Mission Building Inventory, published in 1995.

The community of Cliff Bungalow - Mission is actually two inner city neighbourhoods that developed during the early part of the century. In 1990, Cliff Bungalow and Mission were combined as one community to help preserve the two neighbourhoods (which were under pressure for redevelopment). The community is bounded by an escarpment (the "cliff") to the west, by 17th Avenue to the north, by 1st Street SE and the Elbow River to the east and the Elbow River to the south. Mission, the first of the two neighbourhoods to develop, was comprised of the land east of 4th Street, south of 17th Avenue and west of the Elbow River. Here French Catholic priests established the second Catholic Mission in 1875 (the first was near present day Bragg Creek) in two log buildings just south of today's Holy Cross Hospital. It was set on a little plateau on the south side of the rise on 2nd Street between 23rd and 24th Avenue SW, approximately where the Nurses' Residence of the Holy Cross Hospital now stands.

It was no coincidence that the Mission site was on the path that many Natives travelled to the Bow River. This served as the Mission headquarters of the Southern Alberta Mission for seven years until the autumn of 1882. In 1883, St. Patrick's Church - a second Catholic Mission in East Calgary – was established near the junction of the Bow and Elbow Rivers. However, in 1885 St. Patrick's was moved to the "Mission District" and the relocated church (with added huge bell tower) acted as Notre Dame de la Paix (or "The Mission of Our Lady of Peace") parish. This "Mission District" was founded in 1884. It was officially named Rouleauville after two French Canadian brothers, Charles and Edward Rouleau, who were among its most influential pioneers. Rouleauville was supposed to become the "Quebec of the West." In 1889, the stone St. Mary's Church was constructed, with Father Lacombe instrumental in its building. Rouleauville soon became a thriving French Community, clustered around the parish of Notre Dame de la Paix. However, the constant influx of English-speaking settlers eventually changed the nature of the area, and by 1907, Rouleauville was annexed into the City of Calgary. With the annexation came the English name of "Mission", after the origins of the Roman Catholic settlement.

Cliff Bungalow, the second of the two neighbourhoods to develop, was comprised of the land west of 4th Street, south of 17th Avenue and east of the escarpment (or "cliff"). Originally part of the CPR landholdings of 1882, the portion between 4th Street and 5th Street was subdivided in 1907 and called "Addition to the City of Calgary." In 1910, development in Calgary was extended into the area between 5th Street and the Cliff and was called "An Extension of Mount Royal." It was later renamed Cliff Bungalow. Cliff Bungalow - Mission has always been a community with a rich mix of single family residences, duplexes, apartments, commercial establishments and institutional uses. The early housing stock comprised homestead, foursquare, semi-bungalow, cottage and bungalow styles. The areas west of 4th Street are an excellent example of a cohesive urban neighbourhood built prior to 1920, and the area east of 4th Street reveals the communities' oldest structures; some of the oldest and most significant of Calgary and Southern Alberta.

While the "Mission" side has always been home to a mixture of socio-economic classes, Cliff Bungalow's development tended to be more uniformly upper middle class, including CPR management, doctors, lawyers and other professionals. The area began to fall into disrepair in the late 1970's as real estate speculation and upzoning to higher densities made the land far more valuable than its deteriorating housing stock. The 1990's began a rejuvenation for the community as history began to be valued, area redevelopment plans were put in place and the Fourth Street Business Revitalization Zone was formed.