Canada Guide
Alberta and the Rockies
Fort Calgary
Address: 750-9th Ave SE
Opening time: Daily 9am–5pm
Telephone: 403/290-1875
Website: www.fortcalgary.ab.ca
Price: $10.50
Fort Calgary, the city's historical nexus, is a manageable eight-block walk east of downtown; you could also take bus #1 to Forest Lawn, bus #14 (East Calgary) from 7th Avenue, or the C-Train free to City Hall and walk the remaining five blocks. Built in under six weeks by the North West Mounted Police in 1875, the fort was the germ of the present city, and remained operative as a police post until 1914, when it was sold – inevitably – to the Canadian Pacific Railway. The whole area remained buried under railway tracks and derelict warehouses until 1974 when the city bought back the land and began to reclaim it. The interpretive centre traces Calgary's development with the aid of artefacts, audiovisual displays and "interpretive walks" along the river. Among the more kitsch activities on offer is the opportunity to dress up as a Mountie.