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Walking tour a blast from the past

Bank robbers making off with thousands of dollars and fires changing the face of Okotoks’ downtown are among the stories being shared by a historian this weekend.
History Walk
Wheel File Photo Okotoks historian Karen Peters will lead a guided tour through downtown Okotoks to share some of the town’s intriguing history July 7 at 2 p.m.

Bank robbers making off with thousands of dollars and fires changing the face of Okotoks’ downtown are among the stories being shared by a historian this weekend. Karen Peters, with the Okotoks and District Historical Society, has a few good tidbits of Okotoks’ past to share during a free, guided walking tour throughout downtown on July 7 at 2 p.m. “At the corner of Clark where Monkey Mountain is, I always like to talk about our first unsolved bank robbery,” said Peters. In 1916, robbers blew open the safe in the Merchants Bank of Canada and made off with $4,000-$10,000, the historian says. “They didn’t know how much they got – that’s the part of the story I enjoy telling,” she said. “You wonder about their accounting back then.” Another of Peters’ favourite topics is how much fire changed Okotoks’ downtown, including the one in 1932 that destroyed buildings on the Stockton block and another in 1936 on the Lineham block. “All of a sudden the commercial district of Main Street changed because of fires,” she said. “Because it was the Depression, only a couple of people went back into business but moved into other stores so those stayed empty for many, many years.” Peters also likes to talk about recent changes to downtown including the loss of the old town hall, fire hall and Scouts hall. The tour had taken a two-year hiatus, so Peters thought it was time to bring it back. “I decided it’s time again to do a downtown tour and catch some new residents,” she said. “Unless they’ve gone through old newspapers or our A Century of Memories book as many times as some of us have, they wouldn’t get some of these stories.” It’s the stories that Peters loves. “The stories make the history come alive for people,” she said. “It’s not just facts like you learn in social studies, I like to know how it affected people and who were the people involved.” Peters thrives on telling stories about old buildings still standing and the history of the people who ran those businesses. “We’re hoping, especially the Okotoks and District Historical Society, to show people the history of Okotoks,” she said. “That’s our mandate, to make sure people know about their history and heritage. Main Street is a nice way to do it because that’s where basically Okotoks started.” Having lots of stories to tell can have its downside. “The problem is there is so much you can tell,” she said. “I’m just looking at my pile of notes here right now and it makes me realize I’m going to have to do some editing to this. “There is way too much explaining what was along main street and how it’s changed and some of the history of the stores still standing.” On Aug. 4, Peters will share her knowledge about Elma Street and the Macleod Trail with another free, guided tour. “So many of our mayors used to live on Elma Street and just off of Elma Street is Macleod Trail,” she said. “We’re lucky that we’ve got a few older buildings left there like the W.D. Lineham house, United church, John Lineham House, Patterson Johnson House and Ferguson House. “This was considered the posh area of Okotoks. If you were somebody in Okotoks, chances were you lived on that street.” What amazes Peters is that evidence of the Macleod Trail remains in the community. The trail came through Okotoks at the end of the 19th century and is still visible on the hill north of Elma Street. “It went beside the old United Church and came down North Railway Street – that one little slant of North Railway Street was Macleod Trail,” she said. “Okotoks had crossings where people could bring down their wagons and stage coaches to cross the Sheep River.” Peters said John Macmillan and Kenneth Cameron opened a stopping house along the trail for people travelling between Calgary to Fort Macleod. “That was one reason why people came to the area,” she said. “It was the nucleus of Okotoks.” Those interested in joining this weekend’s downtown tour can meet at the corner of McRae Street and Clark Avenue July 7 at 2 p.m. [email protected]

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