Heritage Park Historical Village

Heritage Park Historical Village

Location in Calgary
Established	1964
Location	Calgary, Alberta
Coordinates	50°59′03″N 114°06′20″W / 50.98404°N 114.10554°W / 50.98404; -114.10554
Type	Living History Museum
CEO	Lindsey Galloway
Public transit access	Heritage C-Train station  MT  MAX Teal  MY  MAX Yellow
Website	Heritage Park

Heritage Park Historical Village is a living history museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, on 127 acres (51 ha) of parkland on the banks of the Glenmore Reservoir, in the city's southwestern quadrant. The Historical Village part of the park is open 7 days a week (10-5) from the Canadian May long weekend through to the September Labour Day long weekend, and then weekends from Labour Day through to Canadian Thanksgiving weekend in mid October. Gasoline Alley Museum and the Railway Café are open year-round. As one of Canada's largest living history museums, it is one of the city's most visited tourist attractions.^[1] Admission to the park requires a ticket or a membership. Exhibits span western Canadian history from the 1860s to the 1950s. Many of the buildings are historical and were transported to the park to be placed on display. Others are re-creations of actual buildings. Most of the structures are furnished and decorated with genuine artifacts. Staff dress in historic costume, and antique automobiles and horse-drawn vehicles service the site. Calgary Transit provides regular shuttle service from Heritage C-Train station. The park opened on July 1, 1964.^[2]

Heritage Park has over 100 exhibits including

• A passenger train, drawn by one of the park's two working steam locomotives, that takes visitors around the park on a closed loop railway.^[3] Starting in 2023 the a car has been added to the train that allows for access to visitors with mobility issues (i.e. special stairs and ramps).^[4] The loop includes 3 original (relocated) CPR stations where visitors can embark/disembark the train.^[5][6][7] A fourth station is used as a washroom.^[8]
• A Railway Roundhouse built in 1981,^[9] and car shop,^[10] which has an operational turntable^[11] and houses various railway equipment and restored passenger cars.
• A streetcar from Calgary's former streetcar system, Calgary Street Railway, that shuttles passengers to and from the parking lot. A second one was built by the park in 1991. This was taken out of service in 2006 in preparation for the park's expansion, and returned to service in May 2010,^[12] taking passengers from the parking lot to the newly built CPR replica station and front gate.^[13]
• A 1964 re-creation of a lake paddle steamer, S.S. Moyie, which visitors can ride around the Glenmore Reservoir.^[14]
• The Railway Prairie Town with numerous buildings, each an example of some of the types of buildings might be found in a typical town (full of furniture and other artifacts as they would have appeared), including: working smithy,^[15] bakery,^[16] hotel,^[17] grain elevator,^[18] fire station,^[19] post office,^[20] bank,^[21] mason's lodge,^[22] lumber supplier,^[23] church,^[24] prairie school,^[25] billiard hall,^[26] newspaper office and printing press,^[27] Chinese laundry,^[28] residential hospital,^[29] town hall,^[30] Northwest Mounted Police detachment office,^[31] opera house,^[32] and other shops and restaurants.^[33][34][35]
• The Pre-Railway Settlement Village with a saloon,^[36] schoolhouse^[37] and replica Hudson's Bay fort.^[38]
• An antique midway that features working historical amusement park rides^[39][40]
• The First Nations Encampment representing the Indigenous peoples in southern Alberta in the 19th century^[41]
• Horse-drawn wagons^[42]
• A Hudson's Bay Company trading fort.^[43]
• The 1913 Little Synagogue on the Prairie.^[44]
• An exhibition space (first opened in 2022) called Innovation Crossing which overlooks Glenmore Reservoir. It contains a collection of immersive displays helping visitor guests to learn about energy, its place in our world and what the future of energy transition looks like.^[45]
• The 2 story Gasoline Alley Museum showcasing the park's extensive antique gasoline pump, antique car and memorabilia collection.^[46]
• Heritage Plaza^[47], located in front of the park gates, contains Haskayne Mercantile Block^[48], Selkirk Grille restaurant^[49] (in the same building as Gasoline Alley), the Railway Café^[50], the an antique portrait studio^[51], and a central park area. It was opened in 2009 and admission is free in this area of the park.
• A Ridge focused on rural occupations. Featuring a coal mine office^[52], a coal mine^[53], an oil well^[54], a wardens cabin^[55], a paleontology exhibit^[56], and a windmill^[57].

Many of the exhibit spaces are used year-round for special events such as weddings, corporate meetings, company barbecues, fundraisers, among other things^[58].

• Fort Edmonton Park
• List of heritage railways in Canada
• List of museums in Alberta

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• Heritage Park Historical Village