Agricultural Heritage
Lush grasslands drew in many ranchers in the late 1800s. With the advent of the railroad through Claresholm in 1891, a station was established and even more settlers flocked to the area. The Town of Claresholm was incorporated in 1903.
The seven elevators that once stood along the railway line were all gone by the year 2000.
Grain elevators were once a common sight in prairie towns; in fact, Claresholm at one time had 9 elevators that sat alongside the railway line. The first elevator in Claresholm was built in 1907.
Claresholm School of Agriculture
In 1911, the Department of Agriculture bought land on the south side of Claresholm for a Demonstration Farm. A school was then constructed with several buildings, opened in 1913. Courses taught included field and animal husbandry, farm mechanics, household sciences, English, mathematics, elementary science, dairying, and poultry and veterinary science. Except for a brief period when it was used as a hospital during the flu epidemic, the school operated continuously until 1931.
After it closed, the school was converted into the Provincial Auxiliary Mental Hospital, now the site of the Claresholm Centre for Mental Health Addictions.
To learn more, visit:
The Claresholm & District Museum
5126 – 1st St. W. (on HWY 2)
claresholmmuseum.com
To attend current events, visit:
The Claresholm Agriplex
5950 4 St W
claresholmagriplex.ca