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As one of the city's oldest neighbourhoods, Victoria Park is
now over 100 years old and has played a significant role in Calgary's
historical development.
Between the years of 1883 and 1903, as Calgary grew from being
a frontier town to a booming metropolis, the community to be known
as Victoria Park was transformed from open prairie to a thriving
residential and commercial district. Named after England's Queen
Victoria in 1901, the district was then neighbour to the French
settlement of Rouleauville and the world renowned Calgary Stampede.
Leading Calgary's spectacular pre-war boom in the late 19th/early
20th century, Victoria Park was inseparably linked to the city's
early economic and social growth. Many of the older brick warehouses
of the current Warehouse District were constructed during this
time as well as notable sandstone structures such as Haultain
and Victoria Community Schools, the Memorial Park Library and
the former General Hospital, now known as the Rundle Ruins. Macleod
Trail and First Street SW were busy commercial streets active
with streetcars and pedestrians as Calgary's finest flocked to
high tea at the Pryce Jones Store or attended an event at the
Isis Theatre.
Today, the area's historical resources include many institutional
and commercial sites, as well as residential buildings. Victoria
Park still possesses many of the early four-square residential
plans with high Victorian detail, significant examples of row
housing and storefront variations, and an intact, one block development
of CPR workers' housing.
In 1999 the Victoria Crossing BRZ provided historical walking
tours of East Victoria Park as a means of educating the public
of the valuable historical characteristics of the district and
to highlight the positive aspects still existing in the area today.
In 2000, funding was granted, in part, by the Government of Canada's
Millennium Partnership Program for expanding this initiative to
include the entire area of Victoria Park (east and west of Macleod
Trail) and for the creation of the Virtual
Tour available on this website.
The value of promoting the history of this community serves to
showcase some of the significant achievements of past Calgarians
and establishes a renewed pride in these sites of historical value
to Calgary. These efforts contribute greatly to the renewed vibrancy
of Victoria Park as the city of Calgary continues to grow and
gains further prominence.
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HISTORIC PEOPLE 
