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| The Canadian Pacific Railway Station at Okotoks, 1909. Paterson Store in background. |
Okotoks Art Gallery
"The Station" History
Prior to the advent of the automobile, and high-quality roads, the railway was a life thread for the community, shipping and receiving supplies and forming a central focus of community life. The first train station was built in Okotoks in 1892. In 1908 it was custom to welcome newlyweds at the train station with the Okotoks Band.
This wooden station collapsed in a fire in 1928. The fire burned the second floor balcony off the General Store across the street. A new station rose from the ashes in 1929 at a cost of $19, 871, the only brick station on the CPR. Okotoks bid an era good-bye when the last passenger train stopped in Okotoks in 1971. After closing in 1972, "The Station" was purchased by the Town in 1980, and was re-opened in 1981 as the cultural and tourist information centre.
