Our Towns, Villages and Hamlets

CARSTAIRS

POPULATION: 2656 LOCATION: 40 minutes north of Calgary. See TRAVEL INFORMATION for maps Named for a town in Scotland, Carstairs is situated in the rolling hills of Alberta’s southern Boreal Parkland and backs onto a wetlands and waterfowl sanctuary. It’s gently sloping hills first attracted ranchers during Alberta’s early settlement period. Prior to the C&E railway project, Carstairs was located along a difficult four-day wagon trail connecting Calgary and Edmonton. The new railway turned this into a comfortable 12 hour journey that included a train station in Carstairs – attracting prospective homesteaders. In 1894 a group of Mennonites from Ontario, arrived at the station and began settling the area. Led by Andrew Weber, the West Zion Mennonite Congregation was quickly accepted and welcomed due, in part, to the fact that they spoke English, the language of surrounding ranchers and other homesteaders. Several waves of English speaking Mennonites followed. The Carstairs train station was the sole commercial center until Mr. E.W. Stone of Canmore arrived to build and run a general store. In five short years, a bustling town with multiple commercial ventures emerged around the station. The town itself was an intersection for two major trails – the Calgary-Edmonton and the Morley-Edmonton trails. The latter was used by the First Nations Stoney Tribe. The Stoney Tribe often stopped in Carstairs on route between the Treaty reservation lands of Morley and Hobema. Hundreds of Stoney’s camped east of the railway tracks, establishing their own campground and building good relationships with the local settlers. They came for rodeos, hired themselves as local farmhands and traded. In a small collapsed cave along a sand-stone outcrop SE of town a series of pictographs carved into the cave walls were recently identified (1992) and believed to be done by the Blackfoot people. The pictographs are already indistinct and fading and the surrounding sandstone is very fragile. It is believed that these carvings will soon be lost. In past decades, Carstairs was a predominately farming town. It’s skyline dominated by 7 prairie grain elevators. In 2002, the last grain elevator was removed and a smaller replica was placed next to the campgrounds where it serves as a tourism information site. Attractions in Carstairs include the Roulston Museum featuring “reminiscence” evenings (older citizens share their recollections), municipal campgrounds, the Grain Elevator Tourism Information Center, an 18 hole golf and country club, a 9 hole golf course and clay sporting (Silver Willow), and the nearby Pasu Farms restaurant and gift shop. Each year Carstairs hosts the Mountain View Music Fest – a multi-day event featuring headlining recording artists and well known Alberta talent. The entire town is transformed for the event and includes art galleries and exhibitions, food kiosks (including vegetarian fare) and the occasional celebrity flipping burgers or enjoying a concert. www.town.carstairs.ab.ca

CREMONA

DIDSBURY

POPULATION: 4599 LOCATION: 50 minutes north of Calgary. See TRAVEL INFORMATION for maps The town of Didsbury sits on a plateau surrounded by the Rosebud River Valley and is part of Alberta’s southern Boreal Parklands. The shallow Rosebud valley provides a rich, fertile home to prairie wetlands flora in the summer and a wide thoroughfare for sled dog races in the winter. Named by CPR after a town in England, Didsbury was selected by Prime Minister Sir John A McDonald as a settlement site for a group of Dutch Mennonite “United Union Loyalists” who, with many former Americans, fled to Canada after the US split from the British Crown. Didsbury’s first settlers’ concerned themselves with staking out agricultural homesteads. The town center was developed first as a church and school center and later as a commercial center, operating mainly in the late evenings on weekends – when farmers were free to trade, purchase and meet together. In its formative years, the new town suffered an unusually high ratio of destructive fires that continually gutted its commercial center until Town Council passed a by-law requiring all buildings to contain masonry as the principle construction material. This new law transformed Didsbury from its boom-town appearance to a more traditional center with quaint European style brick and sandstone elements, combined with the practical architecture of early Alberta. Incorporated as a town in 1906, Didsbury attracted a wide diversity of residents, whose structures make up today’s town core. These include a unique 3-story sandstone school house, banks, offices, wealthy homes, a power plant, fire station one of the first Bible Colleges in Canada (later moved to Calgary). Today, these same buildings house an unusually large ratio of art and artisan boutique shops, as well as retail stores, spa services, restaurants, banks and coffee shops. The 2nd largest town in Mountain View County, Didsbury’s attractions includes the Didsbury historical museum – in the former 3-story school house, historical walking tours, a sports center, the original CPR railway station (refurbished), the Rosebud Run Sled Dog Classic, an annual Art & Travel expo, a car show, Ag Rodeo and Fair and many other events. www.didsbury.ca

OLDS

POPULATION: 7248 LOCATION: 60 minutes north of Calgary. See TRAVEL INFORMATION for maps The town of Olds is situated on a high plateau in the border lands between Alberta’s prairies and boreal parkland. From the east side of Olds, flat, fertile plains stretch out against the endless horizon. From the west, forested hills of the parklands roll forward to meet the Alberta foothills. The Eastern Rockies are visibly close to the town. Olds was established in 1890 during the construction of the C&E Railway (Calgary to Edmonton Rail), which runs along a much older travel path used by Canada’s original native tribes and early explorers. After the rail line was complete, Olds, named for one of its original settlers, quickly blossomed into homesteading hamlet. A burgeoning commercial center was established across from the train station and Olds became home to the Olds Agricultural College (today a multi-discipline, internationally renowned college). Colorful entrepreneurs flowed into the village, men like Wong Yet, who came alone from China and brought his family over one by one. Wong began with a small laundry in a shack on the corner of Main Street and his business grew along with his reputation for generosity and community involvement. His and many original pioneering buildings make up today’s “Historic Uptowne Olds district and East Village”, including the Mayfair Cinema (with a selection of the original seats from 1913) and the College dorm (now an historical building housing a B&B). In 1894, local farmers initiated an agricultural fair at the railway station to display their products (fruits, vegetables, butter, seeds and sheaves of grain, home canning and handicrafts, and home building materials hewn from nearby forests) and open competitions for local skills. From these events the “Olds Ag Society” was established as an agricultural community center where community farmers shared knowledge, experimented with new crops and competed. Today, the Ag society continues to hold and host rodeos, competitions and community wide special events. Working with the local radio stations, the Ag Society also holds concerts featuring world class rock and country artists. Olds is currently the largest commercial center in the region, with major hotel chains, retail franchises and big box stores along side family run shops, boutiques and restaurants. While yet a town, Olds has become one of Western Canada’s most technologically advanced communities with the opening of the Community Learning Campus. Adjacent to the college, this special campus features 1) the Bell e-learning Center with state of the art meeting facilities 2) The TransCanada Theatre – a full performing arts center, and 3) the Wellness Center Main attractions include: The Olds College Botanical Gardens, Historic Uptowne Olds shopping district, The Mountain View Museum, an annual car show, a Christmas festival (Olds Fashioned Christmas) and a wide variety of unique events and special concerts throughout the year. www.olds.ca

SUNDRE

MOUNTAIN VIEW COUNTY

HAMLETS

ROCKY MOUNTAINS