Carstairs Heritage Centre
1130 - 1138 Nanton Street T0M0N0 Carstairs, AB, Canada

We are hiring! Two Positions for University Students as Museum Assistant for the Summer (May-August). Funding for this position is conditional on Young Canada Works and Canada Summer Jobs. For more information, visit https://carstairsmuseum.ca//hiring-summer-museum-assistant/

It's a #WayBackFlashback for today; back over 100 million years ago! For most of the Cretaceous, Canada’s prairie provinces were sitting deep underwater. A giant inland sea, known as the Western Interior Seaway, cut right across North America. It essentially cut the continent in two, separating two large landmasses Laramidia in the west and Appalachia in the east and isolating them for around 60 million years. Because of this sea in the Cretaceous, and the freshwater storms that would have driven animals into the water, our area of North America is a hotbed of fossils, many of which can be seen in the Royal Tyrrell Museum. Such weather and environmental conditions are what also led to the unique look of the Badlands to the East. Information from https://www.cbc.ca//100-million-years-ago-alberta-was-a-gi.

#TriviaTuesday Rupert's Land, named after Prince Rupert, the first governor of the HBC. The charter forming this land area was signed by King Charles II, and it gave the HBC exclusive rights of trade and colonization all the lands containing rivers flowing from Hudson's Bay, with almost no thought to the sovereignty of the many Indigenous Nations who had lived there for centuries.

#FlashbackFriday Started in 1883 by Donald Macleod the first Stagecoach Line that ran between Calgary and Edmonton was also the mail man. Every two weeks mail was delivered, carrying passengers and freight along the trail as well. The first stop on the trail after Calgary was the Scarlett Stopping House. The mail stages soon came to be known as mud wagons. They started with open coaches for two passenger seats surrounded by mail and freight and pulled by two horse teams. Upgrades included heavier four horse teams with mail and freight piled in front and two passengers on padded seats at the back under a buggy type shelter. These new upgrades also included a lower center of gravity, which kept them from overturning. In the winter these wagons were traded in for sleighs.

#triviatuesday Alberta is home to many areas with Indigenous rock art, most famously at Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park. But there are also depictions near to Carstairs, with a record of what they looked like seen here.

#FlashbackFriday A composite of a panorama picture of Carstairs, exact year unknown but likely from the early half of the 20th Century. Does anyone recognize any of the buildings?

In the first official Carstairs Heritage Centre Reminise of 2021, Rhonda Roedler describes her experiences in Science Fairs, from the local to international scale. Video is 1hr and 10 minutes long.

#FlashbackFriday In honor of Remembrance Day, here are some pictures from our archives about those from the area who served in the armed forces.

Museums for Me is a project engaging Canadians on why museums matter, and they want to hear from you! They’ve asked that we share the opportunity to participate with our network, and we encourage you to provide your input. Please fill out the brief survey from now until December 18th, at the website below. We want your voices represented in Museums for Me’s understanding of how Canadians value museums. Please visit www.museumsforme.ca to learn more and participate.

The Museum is planning another sealed-bid art auction to start soon. Where would you rather the easel be set up the longest? A: Co-Op B: ATB C: The Museum D: An equal mix between all three... E: Just the Co-Op and ATB See more