1912 to 2012

This year marks the centennial for my magic house. It also marks the 100th anniversary for other Calgary institutions such as the Grand Theatre, the Calgary Stampede and Calgary Parks & Recreation. 1912 marked the first really boom in this city.  At the turn of the century, there were just over 4,000 people who called Calgary home but by 1912, more than 44,000 lived here. That's a 1000% increase in just over a decade. The town became a city and needed housing, culture and activities. In many ways, Calgary is entering into another cultural shift as we move from the cowboy culture to an arts/engineering fusion. There are exciting things happening in my town.

In light of this major anniversary, I have been doing some research on my little place. I often say if there are ghosts in this house, they are happy ones because there is a sense of happiness within these walls. It is like the house smiles. Ok, that is a wee bit out there...maybe it's just part of the magic. I digress. My research has gone beyond finding various treasures (aka delivery slips) beneath the layers of linoleum.

Digging around the Glenbow Museum Archives online database, I stumbled across a picture of my house from 1912/13. It has changed quite a bit since the picture with an addition on the back but the roof line and windows on the side of the house are definitely indicators of the magic house. My house is the second one from the left.

I also looked into the 1916 Canadian census to see if I could the name of an early resident...if not the first people living here. I hope to eventually find every name of the owners to see what I can learn. You can't really see it in this size of the image but the second section from the bottom lists the residents at 1615 - William, Ethel & Arthur Gibbies(?) Not entirely sure of the last name.

My plan is also to have a neighbour BBQ sometime this summer. A number of houses on the block were also built in 1912 and it is a miracle that they haven't been bulldozed to build condos. And it may be good way to connect with my neighbours. Stay tuned for details.

Throughout the year, I want to take pictures of buildings that were built in 1912 as well so they will periodically show up on the blog too...like the Imperial Tobacco warehouse that was recently converted to condos.

 

I recently attended the 100th anniversary celebration of the Grand Theatre (mentioned above). Here are a few photos taken during the event.

Please excuse the image quality. My camera has decided to kick the bucket so these are all taken with my iphone.