This 200-year-old Scottish Castle completely changed Calgary’s history

Everyone has that one vacation that completely changed their life, but it certainly isn’t every day that one person’s vacation changes the course of history. In 1876, an Alberta officer of the Canadian Northwest Mounted Police brought back far more than just a t-shirt and a few photos from his lengthy trip to Scotland. To the surprise of his neighbours, not only had he found love overseas, but he also found a new name that he believed would be more fitting for their Alberta Fort known as Brisebois.

Located on Scotland’s Isle of Mull, not far from the burgh of Tobermory, the beautiful Calgary Castle sits on 27.9 acres of land overlooking the ocean. The original property dates back to the mid 1700s, and later developments were made on the property between 1815 and 1823.

Though it’s seen several notable owners, and what we can only assume has been, thousands of guests, it was Colonel James MacLeod that would one day rename an entire city after his experience at the Calgary Castle. The place where he had allegedly fallen for house master’s daughter.

As you can imagine the inside of this place is incredible is just as incredible as the outside with an unbelievable view and 10 grand bedrooms.

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In Gaelic, the name means ‘beach of the meadow,’ which is definitely not what anyone would have described Alberta to be in the 1800s (or ever for that matter) but it stuck.

From a fort to a town and then a town to a city, Calgary grew to the bustling metropolis that we all know and love now. With a title fit for a king, a queen a jester, or a ‘master of the house,’ Colonel James MacLeod’s little community now has over 1.3 million people – most of which have no idea that the place they called home was actually named after a beachy isle in Scotland.

Well, now they do.