Categories: Travel

One of Alberta’s oldest pioneer settlements is less than an hour away from Calgary

Photo via Laine Mitchell / Daily Hive

If you head towards the Rockies from Calgary, keep your eyes peeled for a spot along the road that marks the oldest pioneer settlement in southern Alberta.

The Historic Morleyville can be found on the 1A Highway between Cochrane and Banff, where you’ll observe a church surrounded by natural grassland.

This is the site of Southern Alberta’s first pioneer settlement, Morleyville. The Church was the heart of that settlement, and Morleyville was the centre for over 200 people. Today it stands as a powerful reminder of our Western heritage and values.

“Indigenous peoples have lived in the foothills and mountains of southern Alberta for thousands of years. These lands have enduring cultural significance for the Îyârhe Stoney to this day. The Îyârhe Stoney call this area Mînî Thnî, meaning clear water,” Travel Alberta noted about the area.

According to the McDougall Stoney Mission Society, the Mission at Morley was established in 1873, with construction beginning on the present church building and the Morleyville settlement occurring in 1874.

The church’s construction wrapped up in 1875, the same year the North West Mounted Police arrived at the Bow and Elbow Rivers.

In 1921, the entire Morleyville Mission site was abandoned, and in 1952, the Morleyville historic church building was restored. New siding, paint, roof shingles, windows, shutters, and interior sanding were completed.

The original church stood in the open field until the early hours of May 22, 2017, when the historic church burned. Eighty per cent of the original logs were salvaged for use in the restoration.

From 2020 to 2021, the Chalmers Heritage Conservation restored the church based on detailed drawings done in 1985 by a U of C EVDS team.

There’s also an interpretive walk on the grounds, named “The Morleyville: Stories of the Land and People Interpretive Trail, ” which will take visitors from the parking lot along a walkway that leads to the restored McDougall Memorial Church building. On the fence surrounding the building are the next five interpretive panels for people to explore.