Canmore Mortgages

Canmore was officially named in 1884 by Canadian Pacific Railway employee Donald A. Smith. In 1886, Queen Victoria granted a coal mining charter to the town, and the No. 1 mine was opened in 1887.

North West Mounted Police barrackBy the 1890s, a North West Mounted Police barrack had been instated on Main Street, but it was vacated in 1927. The building was restored in 1989 and it is under the care of the Canmore Museum and Geoscience Centre.

The coal mining industry in Canmore boomed well into the 20th century. In 1965, with a population of 2,000, Canmore was incorporated as a town. By the 1970s the market for coal was diminished, and in 1979 Canmore Mines Ltd. ceased operations. As a result of safety and reclaimation policies instigated by the province of Alberta, all but a few mining structures were demolished in the following year; only the lamp house and a few mine entrances remain today.

Canmore's economic future seemed dismal until the announcement in the early 1980s that Calgary, Alberta would be hosting the 1988 Winter Olympics, and that Canmore would play host to the Nordic events. This resulted in an increase in tourism, and Canmore began to develop into the recreational tourist destination it is today.

The Canmore Hotel sits on the main street as it has for over 100 years. The building has changed very little in this time making it one of the most distinguishable landmarks in Canmore. The Hotel recently celebrated it's 118th aniversary in October 2008.

Canmore is among the largest towns in Alberta and is actually larger than a number of cities in the province. Concerns over its urban growth adjacent to provincial and national park land has led to many efforts to place a limit on future development. The town is expected to reach its maximum "build out" following the completion of the SilverTip and Three Sisters Mountain Village developments sometime around 2015–2020.

Most of Canmore can be traversed within an hour by foot; the town centre surrounds 8th Street, or "Main Street" (as it is known colloquially), which was originally a residential road boasting some of the oldest architecture in the town; now, however, it is lined with small shops and galleries. Much of the recent development is taking place in the Three Sisters Mountain Village, SilverTip Resort, and around the town centre. 6th Street is a particularly lovely stretch of real estate, where the residents enjoy proximity to local shops, bars, and restaurants and beautiful views of the Three Sisters and the Rundle range.

Bisected by the Trans-Canada Highway, located on the Canadian Pacific Railway and run through by the Bow River, Canmore is ideally situated on a number of major transportation routes, which has influenced its economy in terms of industry and tourism.

Much of the area to the North-East of Canmore is located in a critical wildlife corridor. This corridor allows animals such as bears, cougar, wolves, and elk to move between habitat patches. These are places where they can find food, escape predators, breed, give birth, and establish territories. A series of hiking and walking paths traverse this area, known as The Benchlands. Many of these trails, and others around the community, infringe upon the Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park. Some of these, including the new Montaine Traverse Trail near the SilverTip Resort, have been improved by the Town of Canmore, the Government of Alberta, the MD of Bighorn, and various stakeholders (Bow Valley Mountain Bike Alliance, the B.V. Riding Association, and local hiking groups) in order to protect the wildlife corridors and other habitat while providing high-quality recreational trails. Much of the upgrading has been accomplished by volunteers organized by the Trail Care Program of The Friends of Kananaskis Country.

Common wildlife include bears, cougars, coyotes, squirrels, elk, deer, rabbits, and a wide variety of birds.

To reach the Town of Canmore's website, go to www.canmore.ca

Info sourced from wikipedia.org

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