History
Shaganappi Point was originally home to the First Nations. The name Shaganappi is of Cree origin, meaning “rawhide thong or lacing”, and has been used as far back as 1870.
The land was later annexed to the City of Calgary in 1910.
Shaganappi was established as a neighbourhood in 1949. Six years later in 1955, the Shaganappi Community Association was founded.
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It still is one of the oldest community associations in Calgary and has grown to include the Shaganappi, Sunalta West, and Upper Scarboro areas.
In 1901, Shaganappi hosted a Royal visit from the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York, the future King George V and Queen Mary. Theirs was the first Royal visit to Canada since Queen Victoria’s death. It was the first Royal Tour to go from coast to coast and demonstrated the success of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The couple’s two month trip started in Quebec. They then traveled all the way to Vancouver, via Calgary where they met First Nation Chiefs, and then back via Banff to Halifax.
In 1915, Shaganappi Point became a golf course, during the First World War. It was the second municipal golf course to be built in Canada and has just celebrated its hundredth birthday. The course was originally built to increase city park space and to grow streetcar revenue. In its first year, the golf course attracted 2,000 golfers who paid 25 cents to tee off for 18 holes. The historical importance of the site was recently recognized when the golf course was officially added to Calgary’s Inventory of Historical Resources. In 1988, the golf course was the launching point for hot air balloons celebrating the Winter Olympics.
Shaganappi was home to a sandstone quarry managed by William Oliver. The quarry employed 40 men who mined stone from the sides of the gully which is now Crowchild Trail, between Bow Trail and Richmond Road. Oliver Quarry provided sandstone for many buildings in the city, including parts of City Hall and Sunalta Elementary School. These buildings serve as a beautiful reminder of Calgary’s early history. In 2013, this park area underwent major improvements and landscaping as a community-lead initiative that partnered with the City of Calgary, various corporate sponsors, Park Foundation Calgary, as well as residents in the community. In 2014, the newly named “Oliver Quarry Park” was awarded the Calgary Heritage Authority Lion Award in the Landscape category as it protected and highlighted part of Calgary’s history.
In 2013, our community saw the extension of the LRT through our neighbourhood, which included the addition of the Shaganappi LRT station across from the golf course.