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 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 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 Sir James Alexander Lougheed, ( or ; 1 September 1854 – 2 November 1925) was a businessman, lawyer and politician from Alberta, Canada. He served as a senator for 35 years, and held a number of Cabinet positions. Early life Lougheed was bo ...

, 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 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 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 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 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 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