Turner Valley is a town in the Calgary Metropolitan Region of Alberta, Canada that is surrounded by Foothills County. It is on Highway 22 (Cowboy Trail), west of Black Diamond and approximately southwest of

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

. 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, gathered investors from local contacts such as James Lougheed,

R.B. Bennett Richard Bedford Bennett, 1st Viscount Bennett, (July 3, 1870 – June 26, 1947), was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, philanthropist, and politician who served as the 11th prime minister of Canada from 1930 to 1935. Bennett was born in ...

and A.E. Cross. Herron himself lacked the technical expertise to drill Turner Valley's fossil-fuel 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 Imperial Oil Limited (French: ''Compagnie Pétrolière Impériale Ltée'') is a Canadian petroleum company. It is Canada's second-biggest integrated oil company. It is majority owned by American oil company ExxonMobil with around 69.6 percent ...

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 Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

, 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, 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, wife of former Prime Minister

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...

* Dwight Lodeweges, former professional soccer player *

Stanley A. Milner Stanley Albert Milner (1930 – April 21, 2021) was a Canadian businessman and politician from Alberta. Early life Milner was born in Calgary, Alberta in 1930 and raised in Turner Valley, Alberta. He attended school there as well as in Saskat ...

, 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