We had a quick breakfast and then headed out to visit the Heritage Park Historical Village here in Calgary, not far from our hotel.
This site is listed as the number 1 thing to visit in Alberta so we had to check it out.
We entered and paid our admission fee and then we headed to the Gasoline Alley segment of the village.
There is an extensive antique car and gasoline memorabilia in this building. One of the nicest collections I have seen in all of our travels. There are 3 levels to explore.
There is a 1915 Cadillac Tow Truck.
There was plenty of signage and gas pump glass globe tops.
Our friend and fellow road warrior and blogger Denny Gibson had told us about the 1930 Nash 450 Sedan that was on the lower level, so we went to check that out. This old Nash was found in Saskatchewan in an old barn in the 70’s and restored enough to make it road worthy and then in 2004 it was driven the entire length of Route 66, a distance of about 2500 miles. The top speed of the Nash was 35 mph. The Nash was then brought back on a trailer and donated to this museum.
There are many old cars, all looking like they did the day they were manufactured.
This Shell fuel truck caught my eye. It is a 1912 Benz Gaggenau Fuel Tanker.
Gasoline memorabilia has always interested me, perhaps because my first job was working at a gas station. I like these old fuel pumps and the old signage.
Karen really liked this car, it would be fun to own this and drive along Route 66 or the Historic Lincoln Highway.
I had never heard of or seen this brand of gasoline. Polly Gas.
We could have spent hours in here looking at everything, but we also want to see the Historical Village. Along the walkway to the Historical Village were these statues.
There is a functioning steam train that will take you for a ride around the village.
Visiting the heritage village is to step back in time. The village comes alive because it is a fully functioning prairie town as it was in the 1890’s. Other heritage villages that we have visited are static displays, homes and business where you peer in windows and doors, but this village is unique because there are volunteers who dress in period clothing and walk the streets and talk to you in the period dialect. They drive their horse pulled wagons throughout the village.
All of the stores and businesses are open and fully staffed.
A delivery truck passes by on its way to some store to make a delivery.
The fresh baked smells coming from the bakery were irresistible and Karen insisted we go in and buy some freshly baked sweet rolls.
Even the school was in session, when we walked by the school, the teacher and the kids were out in the yard for recess playing a game.
There is also a functioning ranch house and barnyard full of animals.
We spent several hours at the Heritage Park Historical Village and we got a good overview of the facility, however I would suggest that you could spend the whole day here and not see everything. We will come back to Calgary some year and re-visit this site. I can see why it is the number one attraction in Alberta. Highly recommended.
For the rest of the afternoon and evening we finished our route preparations and started to pack and prepare for our departure from Calgary.
To see all of the photos from today, you can find them on our FLICKR site.
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