Glenbow, Alberta facts for kids
Glenbow is a special place in southern Alberta, Canada. It's located in Rocky View County, an area northwest of the big city of Calgary and east of the town of Cochrane. You can find it right along Highway 1A. Today, much of the original Glenbow area is part of the beautiful Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park. It sits just west of another area called Bearspaw.
What Does Glenbow Mean?
The name Glenbow actually describes where this place is! It means 'in a glen on the Bow'. A glen is a narrow valley, and the Bow refers to the Bow River, which flows nearby. So, Glenbow is a valley by the Bow River. The name is a portmanteau, which means it's a word made by blending two other words together (glen + Bow).
Glenbow's Early Days
Glenbow became more important when the Canadian Pacific Railway built a train station there in 1907. This made it easier for people and goods to travel to and from the area. A post office also opened in Glenbow on September 1, 1908, helping people send and receive mail. However, the post office closed a few years later, on October 15, 1920.
Glenbow's Famous Sandstone Quarry
Glenbow was very well known for its sandstone quarry. A quarry is a large pit dug into the ground where stone is extracted. The sandstone from Glenbow was a very important building material. It was used to construct many of Calgary's first big buildings, including businesses and public institutions. In fact, the famous Glenbow Museum in Calgary, which is a large museum about art and history, was named after this very area and its important stone.
