{"id":127639,"date":"2015-06-24T14:16:55","date_gmt":"2015-06-24T18:16:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/?p=127639"},"modified":"2015-06-30T17:16:30","modified_gmt":"2015-06-30T21:16:30","slug":"retro-photos-calgary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/news\/retro-photos-calgary","title":{"rendered":"18 retro photographs of Calgary from the 1960s"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/h4>

Proof that Calgary is, and always has been, a real groovy city.<\/p>\n

Aerial view of downtown,\u00a0ca. 1965<\/h2>\n

\"Calgary<\/a>Photo: Striderv\/Flickr<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

When Calgary was first incorporated in 1884 \u2014 then known as the Town of Calgary \u2014 it had a population of only 506 people. By 1965 the city was home to some 311,116 residents<\/a>.<\/p>\n

View from Scotchman’s Hill, ca. 1960<\/h2>\n

\"Calgary<\/a>Photo: Calgary Public Library<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Looking West at the CPR Station and Palliser Hotel from 1st Street SE, ca. 1966<\/h2>\n

\"Calgary<\/a>Photo: Calgary Public Library<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Looking down\u00a09th Avenue at the CPR station and Palliser Hotel, year unknown<\/h2>\n

\"Calgary<\/a>Photo: Calgary Public Library<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The Canadian Pacific Railways station was demolished in June 1966 to accommodate the Palliser Square project and the Calgary Tower — originally known as the Husky Tower.<\/p>\n

Husky Tower construction, ca. 1968<\/h2>\n

\"Calgary<\/a>Photo:\u00a0Calgary Tower<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Husky\u00a0Tower, ca. 1969<\/h2>\n

\"Calgary<\/a>Photo: Calgary Public Library<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

While it was under construction, developers claimed the Huskey Tower would be only 614 feet tall in hopes of preventing competing projects from surpassing its height record. After construction wrapped up, the City of San Antonio promptly built a tower that was 623 feet. Only when the San Antonio tower was finished did the City of Calgary revealed that its tower was actually 628 feet. When it first opened on June 30th, 1968, the Husky Tower was\u00a0indeed crowned the tallest structure of its type (free-standing tower) in North America.<\/p>\n

North side of 9th Avenue between 1st Street SW and 2nd Street SW, ca. 1964<\/h2>\n

\"Calgary<\/a>Photo: Calgary Public Library<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Aerial view, ca. 1960<\/h2>\n

\"Calgary<\/a>Photo: Glenbow Archives<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

In 1960, Calgary was a thriving city with a population of 261,200. The city covered 75.8 square miles, including several new areas annexed in 1956.<\/p>\n

Queen’s Hotel at the corner of 8th Avenue and 2nd Street SE, ca. 1963<\/h2>\n

\"Calgary<\/a>Photo: Calgary Public Library<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The Queen’s Hotel was built in 1893 and demolished in 1982 to make way for the new municipal building and underground parkade. Calgary Mayor\u00a0Ralph Klein officially opened the new City Hall in October\u00a01985. A time capsule, buried in the atrium floor, is scheduled to reopened\u00a0during the 200th anniversary of the city in 2084.<\/p>\n

Hotel Wales at\u00a0709 2nd Street SW, year unknown<\/h2>\n

\"Calgary<\/a>Photo: SwellMap\/Flickr<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The 1974 demolition of the Hotel Wales didn’t go as planned. Some 200 pounds of explosives were used to bring down the\u00a043-year-old building, which “came down slightly off of its intended target,” according to the Glenbow Museum website<\/a>.\u00a0Debris was scattered into the intersection of 7th Avenue and 2nd Street SW\u00a0and windows at the nearby Royal Bank were smashed.<\/p>\n

Central Public Library, year unknown<\/h2>\n

\"Calgary<\/a>Photo: SwellMap\/Flickr<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

View from the roof of the Central\u00a0Public Library, ca. 1963<\/h2>\n

\"Calgary<\/a>Photo: Calgary Public Library<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Calgary’s Central\u00a0Public Library building — officially the\u00a0WR Castell Central Library \u00a0— was built from 1962 to 1963 at a cost of $1.2 million. It would undergo\u00a0a $2 million expansion\u00a0just 10 years later.<\/p>\n

After a fire at 14th Street and 17th Avenue SW, ca. December\u00a01964<\/h2>\n

\"calgary<\/a>Photo: Calgary Public Library<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Picture above is a scene from the\u00a0Condon Block Fire which broke out on December 15th, 1964. According to the Calgary Fire\u00a0Fighter Museum website<\/a>, the blaze\u00a0destroyed an entire city block during a cold snap. The low temperatures made firefighting extremely difficult\u00a0and 28\u00a0firefighters were taken to hospital with frostbite from the cold conditions.<\/p>\n

The Palliser Hotel, year unknown<\/h2>\n

\"Palliser<\/a>Photo: SwellMap\/Flickr<\/a>
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Inside the Palliser Hotel, year unknown<\/h2>\n

\"Palliser<\/a>Photo: Tom Barnes\/Flickr<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

From 1962 to\u00a01965\u00a0the Palliser Hotel underwent a\u00a0$2.5 million renovation. Ceilings were lowered, air conditioning was installed, 475 suites were updated and a new dining area and bar, the Rimrock Room and the Big Top Lounge opened.<\/p>\n

Elveden Centre, year unknown<\/h2>\n

\"Elveden<\/a>Photo: SwellMap\/Flickr<\/a>
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Standing 262 feet above ground, the 20-storey Elveden Centre was the tallest building in Calgary<\/a> from 1958 to 1968.<\/p>\n

Dowtown,\u00a0year unknown<\/h2>\n

\"Calgary<\/a>Photo:\u00a0SportSuburban\/Flickr<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Proof that Calgary is, and always has been, a real groovy city.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":128091,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11108],"tags":[11126,11105,11131],"coauthors":[10332],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n18 retro photographs of Calgary from the 1960s | Livabl<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"See how things have and haven't changed in the last half century.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/news\/retro-photos-calgary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"18 retro photographs of Calgary from the 1960s | Livabl\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"See how things have and haven't changed in the last half century.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/news\/retro-photos-calgary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Livabl\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-06-24T18:16:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-06-30T21:16:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Calgary-1960s-featured.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"513\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Livabl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Livabl\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/news\/retro-photos-calgary\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/news\/retro-photos-calgary\",\"name\":\"18 retro photographs of Calgary from the 1960s | Livabl\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/news\/retro-photos-calgary#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/news\/retro-photos-calgary#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Calgary-1960s-featured.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-24T18:16:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-06-30T21:16:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/36764230a969f18fc6dc798c5a4daedf\"},\"description\":\"See how things have and haven't changed in the last half century.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/news\/retro-photos-calgary#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/news\/retro-photos-calgary\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/news\/retro-photos-calgary#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Calgary-1960s-featured.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Calgary-1960s-featured.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":513},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/news\/retro-photos-calgary#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Articles\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/news\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"18 retro photographs of Calgary from the 1960s\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/\",\"name\":\"Livabl\",\"description\":\"Building New Home Dreams\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/36764230a969f18fc6dc798c5a4daedf\",\"name\":\"Livabl\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/author\/livabl\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"18 retro photographs of Calgary from the 1960s | Livabl","description":"See how things have and haven't changed in the last half century.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/news\/retro-photos-calgary","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"18 retro photographs of Calgary from the 1960s | Livabl","og_description":"See how things have and haven't changed in the last half century.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/news\/retro-photos-calgary","og_site_name":"Livabl","article_published_time":"2015-06-24T18:16:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-06-30T21:16:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":513,"url":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Calgary-1960s-featured.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Livabl","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Livabl","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/news\/retro-photos-calgary","url":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/news\/retro-photos-calgary","name":"18 retro photographs of Calgary from the 1960s | Livabl","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/news\/retro-photos-calgary#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/news\/retro-photos-calgary#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Calgary-1960s-featured.jpg","datePublished":"2015-06-24T18:16:55+00:00","dateModified":"2015-06-30T21:16:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/36764230a969f18fc6dc798c5a4daedf"},"description":"See how things have and haven't changed in the last half century.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/news\/retro-photos-calgary#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/news\/retro-photos-calgary"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/news\/retro-photos-calgary#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Calgary-1960s-featured.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Calgary-1960s-featured.jpg","width":1024,"height":513},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/news\/retro-photos-calgary#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Articles","item":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/news"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"18 retro photographs of Calgary from the 1960s"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/","name":"Livabl","description":"Building New Home Dreams","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/36764230a969f18fc6dc798c5a4daedf","name":"Livabl","url":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/author\/livabl"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127639"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127639\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127639"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=127639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}