Fort Calgary's Railway Era

A real estate boom from 1907-1913 created major opportunities for business and transportation in Calgary. The NWMP Barracks stood in a prime location, and the Federal Government sold Fort Calgary to the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. The first tracks were built in 1911, and in 1914 the NWMP moved to the old courthouse downtown. Only Superintendent Deane's house survived; it was moved to the east side of the site to serve as the station-master's house, then moved again in 1929 to its present location. The railway helped drive Calgary's growth, but the birthplace of the community was buried under tracks and warehouses, and river valley parkland became a light industrial site. Fort Calgary was not entirely forgotten: NWMP veterans placed a memorial plaque on the original site, the Federal Government placed a second monument in Central (Memorial) Park in 1925 recognizing Fort Calgary as a National Historic Site, and that same year a scale model of the fort was displayed on St. George's Island to mark 50 years since the NWMP arrived.

Alberta · Canada