Railway Recycling

In 1893 the CPR built a railway station in downtown Calgary where the Palliser Hotel is now located. It consisted of two buildings separated by a canopy-covered breezeway. Calgary soon outgrew the station, and in 1910/11, the buildings were demolished, and the sandstone was carefully taken apart and loaded onto flatbed rail cars.

They were transported south to the growing towns of High River and Claresholm where the stations were rebuilt and opened in 1912. The west side of the station became the High River station and the east side, Claresholm. The buildings are very rare as they were not built to a standardized plan like most other stations in Western Canada.

Both are municipally designated and are listed on the Provincial and National Registers of Historic Places. They have been the home of their local museums since 1966 (Claresholm) and 1973 (High River).