~ A Historical Christmas ~

Each year at this time of year, we attend Heritage Park's "Once Upon A Christmas" celebration with the whole family. Heritage Park is a lovely historical park in Calgary which celebrates life here in the late 1800's.

The park is beautifully decorated for Christmas. The recent snowfall helped make everything look very festive!

My favorite house is the charming Thorpe House. The Thorpes were Norwegians, from Eau Claire Wisconsin, who came to help run the new lumber mill in Calgary. They raised eight children in this quaint house!

The lovely St.Martin's church hosts church services and carol-singing over the holidays. It is very snug inside with a wood-burning stove:

The old schoolhouse is one of my favorite places in the park:

These green blinds must have been standard-issue in Canadian schools, as my primary school had them too, decades later. I also recall making popcorn garland at school!

The main street also has a bakery, a pool hall, a newspaper print shop, and a home goods store. You can go inside most of these buildings, where staff and volunteers greet you wearing period costumes!

Even the bank looks good all gussied up for Christmas:

The site is so pretty this time of year:

Fresh snow sets the whole thing off:

I love going inside the houses to see the rustic Christmas decorations:

Paper and bits of fabric are more versatile than we realize!

And here I am with my new bff after our wagon ride:

Hope you have found some lovely Christmas traditions for your family!