Tourists poured through Okotoks 100 years ago on the way to see the Dingman Discovery Well near Black Diamond.
The discovery of oil along Sheep Creek on May 14, 2014 changed Alberta forever. Okotoks and Black Diamond, too.
Fancy cars from Calgary brought city residents to the countryside.
Investors, speculators and anyone else with a car or truck flocked to the new tourist destination southwest of Okotoks.
Workers at the Dingman processed the wet gas with a system of expansion and compression chambers, distilling an unrefined condensate liquid from the gas.
Many visitors filled their tanks with the clear gasoline from the well and drove home fuelled by Alberta’s newest resource.
Others collected a souvenir of the gasoline in a glass jar or bottle.
Tour the Turner Valley Gas Plant Historic Site any weekend this summer on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Sept. 29.
