What's in a name?

Calgary municipal railway car #1 on Louise Bridge, Calgary, Alberta,1910

As the Bow tower reaches skyward as the tallest building in Western Canada, other developments join in the rush to create a new Calgary. Bearing names like Eighth Avenue Place and Suncor Energy Centre, they are symbols of the city’s progress and modernization. But with roots that date to incorporation in 1894, there’s history to be found on every block. And more often than not, the past carries a name. Ones like Harry Hays, Henry Viney, Max Bell, Frank and George McMahon. Calgarians are familiar with many of the named buildings, as places to watch hockey, football or even to apply for a passport. But how much do you know about the people behind the names and their connection to the city in which we live? BY Michele Jarvie, Calgary Herald
CUSHING BRIDGE, LOUISE BRIDGE
Motorists whizzing over two bridges in the city give little thought to the wealthy industrialist family they are named for. Cushing Bridge, which connects Inglewood with Forest Lawn on 17th Avenue, is named after William Henry Cushing, Calgary’s mayor from 1900 to 1901. The Louise Bridge, which carries 10th Street over the Bow River from downtown to Kensington, is named after Louise Cushing, daughter of W.H.
William Henry Cushing (1852-1934) was originally from Ontario but moved west as a young man. He started a lumber company in Alberta before entering politics. He was the province’s first minister of public works and also the 11th mayor of Calgary.
He was also the first chairman of Mount Royal College’s board of governors and ran a successful sash and door company.
The W.H. Cushing Workplace School is also named for the public service-minded man.
MAX BELL CENTRE
Newspapers and horse racing played a part in the life of George Maxwell Bell, (1912-1972). He inherited the Calgary Albertan from his father in 1936 and went on to create a publishing empire with FP Publications, with products such as the Vancouver Sun and the Globe and Mail.
Like his good friend and business partner Frank McMahon, Bell owned race horses and the two even became partners in two stables. They won the 1968 Queen’s Plate. He made much of his fortune in oil and gas and was a noted philanthropist. He created the Max Bell Foundation in 1972 and since then it has funded more than $77 million in projects across Canada in a wide range of areas, from sports and health to science and media. Some of the those grants helped fund several sporting facilities in Western Canada, including the Max Bell Centre in Calgary.
ANDREW DAVISON BUILDING
Andrew Davison (1886-1963) was a politician. Arriving from Ireland, Davison worked as a printer and publisher and worked with the Calgary Herald, among other places. After the First World War, he was elected as a Calgary alderman and later became the 24th mayor of the city. For awhile he served simultaneously as mayor and as a member of the Legislative Assembly. His years in office as mayor, 1930-1945, were some of the city’s most difficult as Calgary grappled with the Depression and a $2-million debt for the Glenmore Dam.
He also served 16 years as the city’s chief magistrate so its appropriate the Calgary Police headquarters is named for him, as is an elementary school.
LOUISE RILEY LIBRARY, RILEY PARK
Alexander Calhoun (right) wasn’t the only librarian to be immortalized in bricks and mortar. Louise Riley (1904-1957) was a children’s librarian and author who actively promoted children’s literacy. She even had a weekly radio broadcast. A native Calgarian, Riley’s family owned the land that is now Hillhurst and Hounsfield Heights. They also donated the land for Riley Park. Riley had an avid interest in literature and, in addition to becoming children’s librarian in 1930, was also an author. According to the Calgary Public Library, Riley received a Carnegie fellowship from the American Library Association for a study on school libraries and forged very strong ties between the public library and schools. Some Calgarians might remember her coming to their school to read stories. She died in 1957 and when, a year later, plans were approved for a new branch in the Hounsfield Heights-Briar Hill area, she was top of mind. A portrait of Riley was commissioned and hangs in the branch in her memory.
McMAHON STADIUM
Perhaps the most famous of all of Calgary’s named buildings, McMahon Stadium is home to the Calgary Stampeder football club. The stadium, which is adjacent to the University of Calgary, was built in what must have been record time, 100 days, in 1960 for just over $1 million. It is named for Frank and George McMahon, Calgary brothers who donated $300,000 and guaranteed the balance of construction costs. The university took ownership of the stadium and land in 1985 from the city. Before becoming a major sports benefactor, Frank McMahon (1902-1986) lived a wild and colourful life. The son of a miner, he went from the village of Moyie in the East Kootenays to university in Spokane where Bing Crosby also studied. After university he worked in mining until he moved into oil and gas exploration in the Turner Valley oilfields. He owned a number of companies, including West Turner Petroleums, Pacific Petroleums and Atlantic Oil Company – which owned a well that catapulted into the news in 1948 after a major blowout and subsequent blaze, the most spectacular well fire in Canadian history, according to the Canadian Petroleum Hall of Fame. McMahon also founded West Coast Transmission Co. Ltd. and in doing so was declared by TIME magazine in 1957 as “The man who did the most to open up northwest Canada’s wilderness – and convince oilmen of its treasures.” McMahon’s interests also included horse racing. His colt Majestic Prince won the 1969 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes and together with his friend Max Bell and former college mate Bing Crosby won the 1965 Irish Derby.
ALEXANDER CALHOUN LIBRARY
The Calgary Public Library’s first chief librarian hailed from Ontario. Alexander Calhoun (1879-1979) oversaw the Carnegie Public Library (now Memorial Park), which opened in 1912 and was the province’s first. He went to war for two years and when he returned in 1919, he went back to work for the library. He is credited with seeing the library through financially tough times following the First World War. When the city decided to open a new branch in South Calgary Park, they named it after Calhoun and he was at the ribbon cutting in 1954. It was the first branch to use a professional architect in formulating construction plans. The popular library rapidly outgrew its space and a new Alexander Calhoun Branch was built in 1985.