ABOUT BOWNESS + MONTGOMERY

Bowness North includes the two communities of Bowness and Montgomery in Calgary’s northwest. The area is heavily influenced by so many great outdoor recreational space and of course, the Bow River.

The history of Bowness is quite interesting as its development started in the late 1800s. In 1890, Thomas Stone and Jasper M. Richardson purchased the land and started the Bowness Ranche. They built a ranch house whose stables and barns were on an island in the river which is now called Bowness Park. The name Bowness was apparently chosen by Stone, who had enjoyed visiting Bowness-on-Windermere in the English Lake District before coming to Canada.

In 1908, John Hextall, an English solicitor, bought the land, just six miles to the east of Calgary, which was booming at the time. Hextall envisioned turning Bowness into an exclusive residential suburb “in a natural scenic setting of great beauty”. In 1911, he subdivided part of the ranch, built a bridge personally for $75,000 and got the City of Calgary to run its streetcar line across the bridge into his development, which he called Bowness Estates. In return, he donated two islands on the Bow to the City, for use as a park, now known as Bowness Park.

Bowness incorporated as a village on February 14, 1948. After recording a population of 2,922 in the 1951 Census of Canada, the village then incorporated as the Town of Bowness on November 5, 1951. John Mackintosh was elected as the first mayor[citation needed] of the Town of Bowness in March 1952.

Bowness grew considerably following incorporation in 1951. By 1956, its population doubled to 6,217 and then tripled to 9,184 in 1961. Following the adjacent Town of Montgomery’s amalgamation into the City of Calgary in 1963, the Town of Bowness held a vote in October 1963 to determine its residents’ position on the town being absorbed by Calgary. The result was 1,003 votes in favour and 397 in opposition. The Town of Bowness was subsequently amalgamated into the City of Calgary on August 15, 1964. The last population recorded for Bowness was 9,116 in 1964. - Wikipedia

Today, Bowness is a budding communities which continues to experience high growth and redevelopment throughout. It’s location, among other things, is the main cause of the growth as it continues to be known as one of the best nieghbourhoods in the city. Ranked #5 in 2018 by Avenue Magazine, this community has many shops, restaurants, outdoor recreational facilities and easy access to the Trans Canada Highway and Stoney Trail.