This is an archived event from Culture Days 2021.
Images
Self Guided Historic Walking Tour of Calgary - Life in Early Calgary
Digital
History & heritage Photography Self-guided Tour Writing & literatureDate and time
This activity runs the duration of Culture Days.
Location
Calgary, AB
Access
Free.
Offered in English.
About
While settlers from far and wide came to settle in Calgary in the late 19th and 20th centuries, this land was where the Plains First Nations lived, traded, and hunted bison for thousands of years. When European settlers eventually hunted the buffalo to extinction, some Indigenous peoples were forced to start ranching on their reserves in the surrounding areas.
Modern Calgary officially began with the building of the North West Mounted Police fort in 1875. By 1883 the Canadian Pacific Railroad reached Calgary, connecting this previously remote area to the rest of Canada and the world. The arrival of the railway was a truly transformative event, and brought with it an rush of immigrants from across Canada, Britain, and beyond. The next four decades were marked by explosive growth, taking the population from a few hundred in 1883 to 43,000 by 1911.
This walking tour takes us down 8th Avenue, the heart of Calgary's commercial district for 140 years. Using photos from the period we will see what Calgary was like in those exciting days before the First World War, and we will examine some of the reasons it's become what it is today: a metropolis steeped in dreams of the West.
Links
- Learn more about On This Spot onthisspot.ca
- Download in the Apple App Store (iOS) apps.apple.com
- Download in the Google Play Store (Android) play.google.com
Organizer
On This Spot
On This Spot guides people on a tour back in time, showing & telling the history that surrounds them. On each spot, users will find themselves standing in the footsteps of a photographer who took a historic photo. On site tourists/users can use the built-in camera feature to create their own then-and-photos, which can be shared on social media and saved as a digital souvenir. Selections of these photos are chained together into walking tours that take a deep dive into local history.
On This Spot strives to make history engaging, educational, and accessible to all with a focus on easy to use features and a succinct writing style. The aim is to create an intuitive user experience that provides historical unparalleled depth without overwhelming or confusing users.