The Canadian Pacific Railway Station at Okotoks, 1909. Paterson Store in background.

Employees at the Lineham Lumber Company’s sawmill at Okotoks, ca. 1905.

Stagecoaches, bull trains, and horses and riders were a common sight in this area in the 1880s and 90s as they travelled on the Macleod Trail. This wagon trail was the only transportation corridor between Fort Macleod and Fort Calgary. The trail forked south of the Sheep River and travelers could choose between two suitable river crossings, one near the present train bridge and one close to the Southridge Drive bridge. The trail then angled up the escarpment. Two early settlers, Kenneth Cameron and John Macmillan, each established stopping houses to serve the travelers along the trail. These two stopping houses laid the foundation of what would become ‘Okotoks.'

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.
This wooden station collapsed in a fire in 1928. That fire also 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, and was 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 a cultural centre. It now serves as the Okotoks Art Gallery and Visitor Information Centre.

Established in 1891 by John Lineham, the Lineham Lumber Company was a mainstay of the local economy for 25 years. At one time it employed 100 people and produced an average of 30,000 feet of lumber per day, partly to satisfy the CPR's demand for railway ties. Logs were harvested on timber leases in the foothills during the winter and then floated down the Sheep River during spring run-off to the company's sawmill at Okotoks.

The Lineham legacy lives on in one of the oldest remaining buildings in Okotoks - the Lineham lumber mill's horse barn on Riverside Drive. This stately building was constructed in 1897 for use by the lumber mill, and was later an award winning creamery in the 1920s to 1940s. The Lineham legacy also lives on in our street names - Lineham, Martin (father-in-law), Elizabeth (daughter), and Elma (daughter).

Lineham Lumber Company Interpretive Site

An interpretive site is located south of the library on the north side of the river, which was the original location of the Lineham Lumber Company's sawmill. The site features a vintage head saw as well as interpretive signage.