Lougheed House exhibit looks back to city’s start

Before the flour and feed store, the train station and sawmill, Calgary was the rough territory of American bison hunters and illegal whisky traders.

In the 1870s and 1880s, Calgary was a frontier town with a foot in the past and one in the future. It was a time when indigenous lands were relinquished and settlers moved in. There was a sense of optimism about the West’s great resources and a desire to effort to develop them. The CPR, expanding across the province through Medicine Hat, Calgary and Banff in 1882-83, helped open the territory.

Getting on the Map: The Emergence of Calgary, Post-Confederation is the theme of a new exhibit at Lougheed House.

The display contains maps, artifacts, images, books and reproductions that illustrate how quickly the area was changing.

On the 150th anniversary of Confederation, the exhibit connects the formal creation of Canada in 1867 and the establishment of Fort Calgary eight years later.

The exhibit features pieces from the Lougheed House Collection, the Calgary Public Library, Fort Calgary and Calgary’s Loch Gallery. Reproductions of rare maps and sketches of early Calgary are from University of Calgary Library Map Collection and Glenbow Museum.

The exhibit open Feb. 10 and runs until May 29. Hours and other details are available at lougheedhouse.com