Turner Valley is a town in the

Calgary Metropolitan Region The Calgary Metropolitan Region (CMR), also commonly referred to as the Calgary Region, is a conglomeration of municipalities centred on Calgary, the largest city in Alberta. With the Government of Alberta's establishment of the Calgary Metropo ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada that is surrounded by

Foothills County Foothills County is a municipal district in southern Alberta, Canada adjacent to the south side of Calgary in Census Division No. 6. Despite sharing a common border with the City of Calgary, it does not form part of the Calgary census metropol ...

. It is on Highway 22 (Cowboy Trail), west of Black Diamond and approximately southwest of Calgary. It was named after Robert and John Turner who settled in the area in 1886. The town was once the centre of an oil and natural gas boom. For 30 years, the Turner Valley oilfields were a major supplier of oil and gas and the largest producer in the British Empire.

History

Turner Valley incorporated as a village on February 23, 1930. After 47 years as a village, Turner Valley incorporated as a town on September 1, 1977. On January 1, 2023, the Town of Turner Valley will amalgamate with its neighbouring Town of Black Diamond to form the Town of Diamond Valley. ;Turner Valley Gas Plant W. Stewart Herron, a rancher from nearby

Okotoks Okotoks (, originally ) is a town in the Calgary Region of Alberta, Canada. It is on the Sheep River, approximately south of Calgary. Okotoks has emerged as a bedroom community of Calgary. According to the 2016 Census, the town has a population ...

, gathered investors from local contacts such as James Lougheed, R.B. Bennett and A.E. Cross. Herron himself lacked the technical expertise to drill Turner Valley's

fossil-fuel A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuels ma ...

that was some underground. Herron recruited drilling expert Archibald Dingman, a 19th-century American veteran from Pennsylvania. On May 14, 1914, A.W. Dingman struck wet natural gas, which produced gasoline. However, in 1920, the main buildings burned to the ground. Herron's group could not afford to rebuild and operate the site. Imperial Oil bought Calgary Petroleum Products, created a subsidiary named Royalite Oil Co., and rebuilt the plant. The plant ceased operations in 1985 and with the encouragement of a local group, the Turner Valley Oilfield Society, and the most recent owner of the gas plant, the Alberta provincial government, accepted the site as part of its group of historic sites. Since that time Alberta Culture has been at work on the Turner Valley Gas Plant, primarily stabilizing the facility and removing or mitigating the contaminants on the site. In 2014, Alberta Culture held a celebration on May 14, 2014, on the day of the centennial of the discovery of oil on the site. More than 2,000 people attended this full day of events. It is estimated that, along with the $20 million spent on restoring the site, an additional $20 million will be needed to help get the site operational.

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by Statistics Canada, the Town of Turner Valley had a population of 2,611 living in 1,073 of its 1,133 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 2,559. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Town of Turner Valley recorded a population of 2,559 living in 1,019 of its 1,066 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2011 population of 2,167. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016. The population of the Town of Turner Valley according to its 2015 municipal census is 2,511, a change of from its 2008 municipal census population of 2,022.

Attractions

Kananaskis Country Kananaskis Country is a multi-use area west of Calgary, Alberta, Canada in the foothills and front ranges of the Canadian Rockies. The area is named for the Kananaskis River, which was named by John Palliser in 1858 after a Cree acquaintance. Cove ...

, approximately to the west, offers camping, hiking, cross-country skiing, horseback riding, fishing and bird watching. Recreation venues include the 18-hole semi-private Turner Valley Golf and Country Club, outdoor Dr. Lander Memorial Pool, an outdoor rink and skateboard park, and Friendship Trail, paved link to nearby Black Diamond.

Government

Turner Valley is governed by a town council of seven including a mayor and six councillors. The mayor of the Town of Turner Valley is Barry Crane.

Education

Students in kindergarten through grade 6 attend Turner Valley Elementary School. Junior and senior high school students attend Oilfields High School in Black Diamond.

Notable people

Laureen Harper Laureen Ann Harper ( Teskey; born June 23, 1963) is a Canadian graphic designer. She is married to Canada's 22nd prime minister, Stephen Harper. Life and career The eldest of three, Laureen Ann Teskey was born in Turner Valley, a rural town so ...

, wife of former Prime Minister Stephen Harper *

Dwight Lodeweges Dwight Lodeweges (born 26 October 1957) is a Canadian–born Dutch football coach and former professional player. He is currently one of the assistant managers of the Netherlands national team. In 2020 - after Ronald Koeman left to join FC Ba ...

, former professional soccer player * Stanley A. Milner, Canadian businessman and former politician

Gallery

File:Turner Valley AB Looking West AB546.jpg, Looking west in Turner Valley File:Turner Valley Sign.JPG, Welcome sign File:Turner Valley Alberta Police Station.jpg, Police station File:Royal Canadian Legion building Turner Valley AB.jpg, Royal Canadian Legion building

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1930 establishments in Alberta Calgary Region Towns in Alberta