Heritage Park

Every summer we go to Heritage Park. If you haven't been there before, it is a Living History Museum in Calgary, Alberta. It gives lots of information about Albertas, and Canadas history, and you get to go through different buildings from the area. Most of them are from the late 1800s and early 1900s (since Canada is such a new country, they are pretty much the oldest buildings in this area). Heritage Park has been my favourite place since I was very young, and I always wanted to work there (dress up and talk about history all day? That was the dream!). Growing up has actually made me love going there even more, mostly because I know more about the era than I used to.

This time we decided to get some photos of something that I have made before. I didn't have anything new that suited the surroundings, but I did tailor my 1930s skirt a few months ago and never got photos of it. It fit me okay when I first made it (it was actually the first piece of clothing that I every made), but it was quite a bit too big at the waist, so I took it in about 3 or 4 inches. I wear it so much more often now that it fits nicely, and I am so glad I took it in! The 1930's is one of my favourite eras of clothing for everyday wear, so its great to have another piece for my closet.

The train section of the park I have never seen before- there is an area with a few train cars that you can walk through, and this was our first time seeing them! There is an amazing train museum in Cranbrook, BC that I went to when I was quite a bit younger and it fed my fascination with train travel in the 1800s-mid 1900s. 

Canada has a pretty different history to many other countries, especially European ones. Before the Europeans, the First Nations were here. We don't have much left over from the First Nations because of the Europeans (just like the US). Because the country is so new, the oldest buildings here are the types that would be called retro in Europe. Our history is very much the Wild West that you see in movies. I have always found this fascinating because as a kid I wanted very badly to be a cowgirl. I loved growing up in a ranching and farming area. We still have the Calgary Stampede, which was started in 1912. We also had Nellie McClung, one of the Famous 5 (suffragettes, politicians, and social activists), living in Calgary, and her house now stands in Heritage Park. Emmeline Pankhurst actually came to visit her in Edmonton!

I used to be quite disappointed about our lack of history in Alberta, but over the years I have learned that we have a fascinating history that is not talked about enough. There were so many interesting people who did important things that either lived or came through this area, and many major events happened in just a few hundred years.

~K