Stirling is a village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 in the County of Warner No. 5

Warner County No. 5, Alberta

The County of Warner No. 5 is a municipal district in southern Alberta, Canada.It is located in Census Division 2, just north of the United States border. Warner was organised as a rural municipality since 1912, and established in the actual borders since 1954. The seat of the municipality is...

, Alberta

Alberta

Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. The village is located on Highway 4, approximately 31 km (19.3 mi) southeast of Lethbridge

Lethbridge

Lethbridge is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada, and the largest city in southern Alberta. It is Alberta's fourth-largest city by population after Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer, and the third-largest by area after Calgary and Edmonton. The nearby Canadian Rockies contribute to the city's...

 and 72 km (44.7 mi) northwest of the United States-Canada border.

The Village of Stirling is also referred to as Stirling Agricultural Village

Stirling Agricultural Village

Stirling Agricultural Village is a National Historic Site of Canada, and was listed as one of only three communities in Canada designated as a National Historic Site because of the community’s well preserved settlement pattern that follows the Plat of Zion model...

 due to its designation as a National Historic Site. It is one of only three Canadian communities designated as such, Quebec City

Quebec City

Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...

 and Louisbourg, Nova Scotia

Louisbourg, Nova Scotia

Louisbourg is a community in Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Regional Municipality.-History:The town's name was given by French military forces who founded the Fortress of Louisbourg and its fortified seaport on the southwest part of the harbour, in honour of Louis XV...

 being the other two.

History

As railway developed in Southern Alberta through out the 1880s, the Canadian Pacific Railway

Canadian Pacific Railway

The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...

 (CPR) built a line from Calgary

Calgary

Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...

 to Fort Macleod

Fort Macleod, Alberta

Fort Macleod is a town in the southwest corner of the province of Alberta, Canada. It was founded as a North-West Mounted Police barracks, and is named in honour of the North-West Mounted Police Colonel James Macleod. The town's current mayor is Shawn Patience.- History and heritage preservation...

, and the Alberta Railway and Coal Company (ARCC) constructed a narrow gauge

Narrow gauge

A narrow gauge railway is a railway that has a track gauge narrower than the of standard gauge railways. Most existing narrow gauge railways have gauges of between and .- Overview :...

 line from Lethbridge to Medicine Hat to supply coal to the CPR. In 1899, the ARCC built another narrow gauge line from Lethbridge to Great Falls, Montana

Great Falls, Montana

Great Falls is a city in and the county seat of Cascade County, Montana, United States. The population was 58,505 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Great Falls, Montana Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Cascade County...

 through the Coutts

Coutts, Alberta

Coutts is a village in Alberta and the location of one of the busiest Canada – US border crossings in western Canada. It connects Highway 4 to Interstate 15, an important trade route between Alberta, American states along I-15, and Mexico.In 2004, a joint border facility opened in Coutts-Sweet...

-Sweetgrass

Sweetgrass, Montana

Sweet Grass is an unincorporated community in Toole County, Montana, United States, on the Canada-US border. It is the northern terminus of Interstate 15, an important route connecting western Canada, the western United States, and Mexico.In 2004, a joint border facility opened at the Sweetgrass...

 border crossing, closely following the route of the old Whoop-up Trail.

The line was not built to promote colonization, but to open additional markets for Lethbridge coal in Montana. There was a limited amount of ranching along the route and no agricultural settlement. The ARCC opened the line to advertise land in parcels of 80-6401 acres for stock

Cattle

Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...

. The first station along the line south of Lethbridge was located near what was than known as "18 Mile Lake

Stirling Lake

Stirling Lake is a small lake located about 1 km north of Stirling in Alberta, Canada. The lake is known for its wide variety of bird species, and is also referred to as the "Michelsen Marsh"....

" (18 miles from Lethbridge), so the trains would have water for the engines. This station was named after J. A. Stirling, an executive in a company in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 that helped finance the ARCC. At that time, there were no people or buildings in the region, with the exception of station employees who lived in the section house

Section house (railway)

A Railway Section House is a building or house like structure located near or next to a section of railroad used for housing railroad workers, or storing and maintenance of equipment for a section of railroad. A section house was used mainly from 1890s-1960s by the 1970s section houses were slowly...

.

With the arrival of irrigation

Irrigation

Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...

 in 1899, the village of Stirling developed adjacent to the ARCC and station house.

On May 5, 1899, a small band of 30 Mormon

Mormon

The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...

 settlers lead by Theodore Brandley of Richfield, Utah

Richfield, Utah

Richfield is a city in and the county seat of Sevier County, Utah, in the United States, and is the largest city in southern-central Utah. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 7,551. It lies in the Mormon Corridor, just off of Interstate 70 about 40 miles east of its junction with...

, arrived at Stirling station. Theodore Brandley, with the help of Charles Ora Card

Charles Ora Card

Charles Ora Card was the founder of the town of Cardston, Alberta, the first Mormon settlement in Canada. He has been referred to as "Canada's Brigham Young"....

, began planning the layout of the new town. The town site was to be made up of one square mile (640 acres), then divided into lots of 10 acres (40,468.6 m²); each with a surveyed road around the entire area with a lane running north and south, dividing it into two parcels. The parcels were again divided, east and west, making four lots, each 2.5 acres (10,117.2 m²), giving the residents room to build homes, barns and shelters for animals, with large gardens. Theodore planned the town site after the Plat of Zion, which Stirling still follows today, and is recognized as the most well-preserved, Canadian example of the Plat of Zion. For this reason, Stirling is known as Stirling Agricultural Village.

Stirling is one of only two communities that owed its existence to a partnership between The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Charles A. Magrath

Charles Alexander Magrath

Charles Alexander Magrath conducted foundation surveys of the Northwest Territories from 1878 until 1885. He joined Sir Alexander Tilloch Galt and Elliot Torrance Galt in their western industrial enterprises as a surveyor, later becoming Elliott's assistant and Land Commissioner of the North...

 of the North Western Coal and Navigation Company

North Western Coal and Navigation Company

The North Western Coal and Navigation Company also known as Alberta Coal and Railway Company, was a coal mining company formed in 1882 by Sir Alexander Tilloch Galt, one of Canada's Fathers of Confederation...

,, and it is one of only three communities designated as a National Historic Site of Canada.

New Stirling

Construction of the St. Mary Railway, begging in Stirling and ending in Cardston

Cardston, Alberta

-Demographics:The population of the Town of Cardston according to its 2007 municipal census is 3,578.In 2006, it had a population of 3,452 living in 1,234 dwellings, a 0.7% decrease from 2001...

 began in 1900 and was finished in 1902. The Canadian Pacific Railway took over all assets of Alberta Railway and Irrigation company (successor of Alberta Railway Coal Company) in 1912 and started construction of a new line east of Stirling to Saskatchewan. Stirling had now become an important railway junction in Southern Alberta with rail lines from north, south, east and west.

To accommodate the expansion of the railway the CPR needed more space for yards and shunting. Kipp Coulee

Kipp Coulee

Kipp Coulee is located in Southern Alberta, Canada. It is 8 kilometres southeast of the town of Raymond and starts on the north shore of the Milk River Ridge Reservoir it then makes its way through the Village of Stirling and then it joins the Etzikom Coulee just north east of Stirling.-See also:*...

 near the original station did not have enough room to expand, so the CPR moved the station one mile north. This created an ideal location for a new town. A townsite was planned and lots were advertised for sale in what was called New Stirling also known as New Town. Due to confusion between the two post offices in Stirling and New Stirling, the name was changed to Maybutt

Maybutt, Alberta

Maybutt also known as “New Stirling” or "New Town" is a former locality in Warner County, Alberta, Canada. The unincorporated community is situated 1 km north of the old town of Stirling just off the CANAMEX Corridor between Lethbridge and the United States-Canada border...

. Mr. Fisher, who was the original owner and planner of the townsite, decided to rename the town after his wife, Mrs. "May Butt".

A large hotel; the Prairie Queen Hotel

Prairie Queen Hotel

In 1909-1910, a real estate promoter, William Fisher came to Alberta and bought land north of the village of Stirling, Alberta. Soon after the Canadian Pacific Railway had plans to lay tracks through Fisher's land creating a junction making it an ideal spot for a large townsite. Mr. Fisher planded...

, a Presbyterian Church, and more a variety of other businesses and houses quickly sprung up shortly after land was opened up. The community even had its own newspaper; the "New Stirling Star". The town did not flourish, and eventually buildings were moved away, the school was closed and in the 1950s the post office closed its doors.

Maybutt has slowly died off making it a ghost town with few original buildings remaining. In recent years homes have been moved into Maybutt as small hobby farms and acreages.

Geography and climate

Stirling is in the County of Warner No. 5

Warner County No. 5, Alberta

The County of Warner No. 5 is a municipal district in southern Alberta, Canada.It is located in Census Division 2, just north of the United States border. Warner was organised as a rural municipality since 1912, and established in the actual borders since 1954. The seat of the municipality is...

, and lies 31 km (19 mi) south-east of Lethbridge, at the junction of Highway 4 and Highway 846. The Milk River Ridge

Milk River Ridge

The Milk River Ridge is a high, flat ridge in southwestern Alberta, Canada. It is about in area. Its plateau is about 1,219 meters above sea level - which is about 274 meters higher than Lethbridge to its north. The Milk River flows through the plateau.The ridge was formed thousands of years...

 is south of the village, and Etzikom Coulee

Etzikom Coulee

Etzikom Coulee is a coulee located in Southern Alberta, Canada.The waterway was formed as a glacial spillway channel at the end of the last ice age.-Course:...

 and Kipp Coulee

Kipp Coulee

Kipp Coulee is located in Southern Alberta, Canada. It is 8 kilometres southeast of the town of Raymond and starts on the north shore of the Milk River Ridge Reservoir it then makes its way through the Village of Stirling and then it joins the Etzikom Coulee just north east of Stirling.-See also:*...

 are north of it.

Coordinates:	49°30′N 112°31′W
Elevation	935 metres (3,067.6 ft)
Land Area	2.64 square kilometres (1 sq mi)

Climate

Stirling experiences a semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification

Köppen climate classification

The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by Crimea German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936...

 BSk). Stirling is subject to chinooks

Chinook wind

Chinook winds , often called chinooks, commonly refers to foehn winds in the interior West of North America, where the Canadian Prairies and Great Plains meet various mountain ranges, although the original usage is in reference to wet, warm coastal winds in the Pacific Northwest.Chinook is claimed...

, which bring temperatures in mid-winter above 10 °C (50 °F). Chinooks bring more than 200 days of wind a year.

Economy

Agriculture
Historically, Stirling's economy has relied mainly on agriculture

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

 as a main industry. The community still has strong roots to agriculture and has become one of the 21 communities that have joined the South Grow Regional Initiative, a proposal to accelerate and enhance economic development

Economic development

Economic development generally refers to the sustained, concerted actions of policymakers and communities that promote the standard of living and economic health of a specific area...

 and sustainability

Sustainability

Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...

 for communities within the SouthGrow Regional Initiative region.

Tourism
Stirling's location and rich history makes tourism

Tourism

Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...

 another main industry. Stirling has a variety of businesses and recreation

Recreation

Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for enjoyment, amusement, or pleasure and are considered to be "fun"...

, such as a convenience store

Convenience store

A convenience store, corner store, corner shop, commonly called a bodega in Spanish-speaking areas of the United States, is a small store or shop in a built up area that stocks a range of everyday items such as groceries, toiletries, alcoholic and soft drinks, and may also offer money order and...

, creamery

Creamery

In a dairy, the creamery is the location of cream processing. Cream is separated from whole milk; pasteurization is done to the skimmed milk and cream separately. Whole milk for sale has had some cream returned to the skimmed milk....

, large concrete terminal grain elevator

Container terminal

A container terminal is a facility where cargo containers are transshipped between different transport vehicles, for onward transportation. The transshipment may be between container ships and land vehicles, for example trains or trucks, in which case the terminal is described as a maritime...

, a wooden crib grain elevator

Grain elevator

A grain elevator is a tower containing a bucket elevator, which scoops up, elevates, and then uses gravity to deposit grain in a silo or other storage facility...

 now used as a hemp

Hemp

Hemp is mostly used as a name for low tetrahydrocannabinol strains of the plant Cannabis sativa, of fiber and/or oilseed varieties. In modern times, hemp has been used for industrial purposes including paper, textiles, biodegradable plastics, construction, health food and fuel with modest...

 plant, a truck and tractor dealer, a pool, a community-owned campground, and a library, two museums and a community park known as Centennial Park.

Demographics

The population of the Village of Stirling according to its 2010 municipal census is 1,157, a 4.6% increase over its 2009 municipal census population of 1,106.

In the 2006 Census, Stirling had a population of 921 living in 299 dwellings

House

A house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...

, a 5.0% increase from 2001. The village has a land area of 2.64 km² (1 sq mi) and a population density

Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 of 349.5 /km2.

According to the 2001 Canadian census, of those respondents who indicated religious affiliation, all but 13% considered themselves Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

.

• Protestant: 78% (mostly LDS)
• Catholic: 9%
• No religious affiliation: 13%
• Christian Orthodox: 0%
• Christian (unspecified denomination): 0%

Government

The village is governed by a village council composed of a mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

, four councillors and a village manager. Municipal elections are held every three years.

Infrastructure

The village is connected to two highways: Highway 4, which heads south to Interstate 15

Interstate 15

Interstate 15 is the fourth-longest north–south Interstate Highway in the United States, traveling through the states of California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, and Montana from San Diego to the Canadian border...

 and north to Lethbridge

Lethbridge

Lethbridge is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada, and the largest city in southern Alberta. It is Alberta's fourth-largest city by population after Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer, and the third-largest by area after Calgary and Edmonton. The nearby Canadian Rockies contribute to the city's...

, and the historic Red Coat Trail

Red Coat Trail

The Red Coat Trail is a route that approximates the path taken in 1874 by the North-West Mounted Police in their quest to bring law and order to the Canadian West.-Travel route:...

 also known as Highway 61, which heads east to Foremost

Foremost, Alberta

- See also :* List of communities in Alberta* List of villages in Alberta* Foremost Formation* Foremost Airport- External links :* * AlbertaFirst....

 and then ends in Manyberries

Manyberries, Alberta

- References :...

.

Stirling emergency services are provided by the Raymond and District Hospital and police station located in Raymond

Raymond, Alberta

Raymond is a town in Warner County, Alberta, Canada. It is located in southern Alberta south of Lethbridge on Highway 52. Raymond is known for its annual rodeo and its large Mormon population...

, as well as the village's own fire station, that has served the Stirling and area since 1957.

Tourism

Stirling's recreational facilities include ball parks, a swimming pool, a tennis court, a community centre, a picnic area, playgrounds, rodeo grounds, fish pond, and library. The Milk River Ridge Reservoir

Milk River Ridge Reservoir

Milk River Ridge Reservoir is an artificial lake in southern Alberta, Canada. It is located about south-east of Lethbridge, along Highway 506, west of Highway 4 and is a popular spot for summer activities....

 south of Stirling supports water recreation in the summer months, and Stirling Lake

Stirling Lake

Stirling Lake is a small lake located about 1 km north of Stirling in Alberta, Canada. The lake is known for its wide variety of bird species, and is also referred to as the "Michelsen Marsh"....

 also known as Michelsen Marsh, north of Stirling supports bird watchers year-round.

On east entrance of Main Street is a newly built information kiosk

Kiosk

Kiosk is a small, separated garden pavilion open on some or all sides. Kiosks were common in Persia, India, Pakistan, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward...

 made to replicate that of an older pioneer home found throughout Stirling and area. In the kiosk are historical markers and a map that shows many sites of interest throughout the National Historic Site of Stirling.

Museums

• Galt Historic Railway Park
  Galt Historic Railway Park
  The Galt Historic Railway Park, collects, preserves, restores, exhibits and interprets artifacts which represent the history and social impact of the "steam" era in southern Alberta and the coal era with emphasis on Galt Railway and the 1890 International Train Station Depot North West Territories...
  
   - Displays of life and travel in the 1880s are set up in the restored 1890 North West Territories International Train Station from Coutts, Alberta
  Coutts, Alberta
  Coutts is a village in Alberta and the location of one of the busiest Canada – US border crossings in western Canada. It connects Highway 4 to Interstate 15, an important trade route between Alberta, American states along I-15, and Mexico.In 2004, a joint border facility opened in Coutts-Sweet...
  
  , Canada
  Canada
  Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
  
   and Sweetgrass, Montana
  Sweetgrass, Montana
  Sweet Grass is an unincorporated community in Toole County, Montana, United States, on the Canada-US border. It is the northern terminus of Interstate 15, an important route connecting western Canada, the western United States, and Mexico.In 2004, a joint border facility opened at the Sweetgrass...
  
  , USA. The station was moved to the current location near Stirling, Alberta in 2000.
• Michelsen Farmstead
  Michelsen Farmstead
  The Andreas Michelsen Farmstead, originally built in 1902 by Andreas himself as a two room house. In 1912 the house was added onto, to make 7 rooms in total, little has changed since...
  
   - a typical farmstead found throughout Stirling in the early 1900s. The Michelsen's farmstead was declared a Provincial Historic Site of Alberta in 2001, and is maintained by the Stirling Historical Society who have restored the farm back to its 1930s heritage. Located on the corner of 6th Street and 2nd Avenue.
• Bishop's storehouse
  Bishop's storehouse
  A bishop's storehouse in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints usually refers to a commodity resource center that is used by bishops of the church to provide goods to needy individuals...
  
  , Also known as Lord's storehouse, moved to its current location next to the Kiosk on the corner of 1st Street and 4th Avenue.

Local attractions

• Stirling Lions Club Fish Pond, stocked every year with new fish for fishing. Corner of 7th Street and 4th Avenue.
• Centennial Park, community park with swimming pool,play grounds, a tennis court, basketball courts, reunion center, a senior citizen's center, baseball diamonds and a campground.
• Prairie Cactus Mini Putts, a privately owned miniature golf course, open by request. Corner of 1st Street and 7th Avenue.
• William T. Ogden House
  William T. Ogden House
  William T. Ogden House is a historic Neo-Classical Georgian style brick mansion located on in Stirling, Alberta, Canada. Construction of the house began in 1910 and was finished in 1919 by William T. Ogden. The house has been a rooming house, pool hall and a dance studio, and in 1934 it became a...
  
  , a Neo-Classical
  Neoclassical architecture
  Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
  
   style house that is declared as a Provincial historic site of Alberta located in Stirling. Every year around Halloween
  Halloween
  Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
  
   the owners of the home decorate the 7000 sq ft (650.3 m²) house as a live haunted house
  Haunted house
  A haunted house is a house or other building often perceived as being inhabited by disembodied spirits of the deceased who may have been former residents or were familiar with the property...
  
  , making it the largest haunted house in southern Alberta
  Southern Alberta
  Southern Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of the year 2004, the region's population was approximately 272,017. The primary cities are Lethbridge and Medicine Hat...
  
  . 441 4th Street.
• Lost Frontier Mini-Railway, a small train park open by booking from May to October and is a very popular local attraction. Located on the grounds of the William T. Ogden Home
  William T. Ogden House
  William T. Ogden House is a historic Neo-Classical Georgian style brick mansion located on in Stirling, Alberta, Canada. Construction of the house began in 1910 and was finished in 1919 by William T. Ogden. The house has been a rooming house, pool hall and a dance studio, and in 1934 it became a...
  
  , the park also has a petting zoo
  Petting zoo
  A petting zoo features a combination of domestic animals and some wild species that are docile enough to touch and feed. In addition to independent petting zoos, also called children's farms or petting farms, many general zoos contain a petting zoo...
  
  , a mini village, a large Cuckoo clock
  Cuckoo clock
  A cuckoo clock is a clock, typically pendulum-regulated, that strikes the hours with a sound like a common cuckoo's call and typically has a mechanical cuckoo that emerges with each note...
  
   as well as the "worlds smallest church". 441 4th Street.

Events

• Victoria Day
  Victoria Day
  Victoria Day is a federal Canadian public holiday celebrated on the last Monday before May 25, in honour of Queen Victoria's birthday. The date is also, simultaneously, that on which the current reigning Canadian sovereign's official birthday is recognized...
  
   at the Galt Historic Railway Park (May 24), visitors get guided tours of the Galt train station, build kites and participate in other activities.
• Stirling Community Garage Sale (Saturday of May-long), community garage sale held by the Stirling Historical Society.
• Lions
  Lions Clubs International
  Lions Clubs International is a secular service organization with over 44,500 clubs and more than 1,368,683 members in 191 countries around the world founded by Melvin Jones Headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, United States, the organization aims to meet the needs of communities on a local and...
  
   Community BBQ (June), community BBQ held at the Stirling Lions Hall.
• Stirling Settler Days
  Stirling Settler Days
  Stirling Settler Days is a celebration held every year on July 24 in Stirling, Alberta, Canada.Stirling Settler Days is celebrated to mark the Mormon pioneers' arrival in the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847...
  
  (July), after Stirling's founding on May 5, 1899, the 24th of July, previously known as "Pioneer Day
  Pioneer Day
  Pioneer Day is an official holiday celebrated on July 24 in the U.S. state of Utah, with some celebrations in regions of surrounding states originally settled by Mormon pioneers...
  
  " & now called "Stirling Settler Days", was celebrated to mark the Mormon pioneers' arrival in the Salt Lake Valley
  Salt Lake Valley
  Salt Lake Valley is a valley in Salt Lake County in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Utah. It contains Salt Lake City and many of its suburbs, notably West Valley City, Murray, Sandy, and West Jordan; its total population is 1,029,655 as of 2010...
  
  .
• Stirling Fall Festival (September), held at the grounds of the Michelsen Farmstead each year. Visitors get to make rope
  Rope
  A rope is a length of fibres, twisted or braided together to improve strength for pulling and connecting. It has tensile strength but is too flexible to provide compressive strength...
  
  , stick dolls, and dipped candles, there are also wagon rides as well as kiddie games.
• Harvest Dance (October), also held at the Michelsens farmstead, Old-fashioned Barn dance
  Barn dance
  A barn dance is any kind of dance held in a barn, but usually involves traditional or folk music with traditional dancing. It is a type of dance, originating in America and popular in Britain in the late 19th century and early 20th, derived from Schottische...
  
  .
• Stirling Haunted Mansion
  William T. Ogden House
  William T. Ogden House is a historic Neo-Classical Georgian style brick mansion located on in Stirling, Alberta, Canada. Construction of the house began in 1910 and was finished in 1919 by William T. Ogden. The house has been a rooming house, pool hall and a dance studio, and in 1934 it became a...
  
  (October), located in the William Ogden House, also known as the largest haunted house in Southern Alberta
  Southern Alberta
  Southern Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of the year 2004, the region's population was approximately 272,017. The primary cities are Lethbridge and Medicine Hat...
  
  .
• Victorian Prairie Christmas (November), an old-fashion Victorian
  Victorian era
  The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
  
   Christmas party held at the Galt Historic Railway Park
  Galt Historic Railway Park
  The Galt Historic Railway Park, collects, preserves, restores, exhibits and interprets artifacts which represent the history and social impact of the "steam" era in southern Alberta and the coal era with emphasis on Galt Railway and the 1890 International Train Station Depot North West Territories...
  
   Station.
• Lions
  Lions Clubs International
  Lions Clubs International is a secular service organization with over 44,500 clubs and more than 1,368,683 members in 191 countries around the world founded by Melvin Jones Headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, United States, the organization aims to meet the needs of communities on a local and...
  
   Christmas Dinner
  Christmas dinner
  Christmas dinner is the primary meal traditionally eaten on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. In many ways the meal is similar to a standard Sunday dinner. Christmas feasts have traditionally been luxurious and abundant...
  
  (November), a community dinner with traditional home cooking.
• Santa Claus Mansion
  William T. Ogden House
  William T. Ogden House is a historic Neo-Classical Georgian style brick mansion located on in Stirling, Alberta, Canada. Construction of the house began in 1910 and was finished in 1919 by William T. Ogden. The house has been a rooming house, pool hall and a dance studio, and in 1934 it became a...
  
  (December), held at the William Ogden House in conjunction with the town's Christmas lights tour.
• Christmas Lights tour
  Christmas Lights
  Christmas Lights is a 2004 British Christmas television special broadcast by ITV starring Robson Green and Mark Benton and written by Jeff Pope and Bob Mills...
  
  (December), held in conjunction with the Santa Claus Mansion to view citizen's Christmas light displays.

Regional attractions

Devil's Coulee Dinosaur Heritage Museum:
The Devil's Coulee Dinosaur Heritage Museum

Devil's Coulee Dinosaur Heritage Museum

Devil's Coulee Dinosaur Heritage Museum, located in Warner, Alberta, Canada, is a key historic site in southern Alberta. In 1997, ten fossilized dinosaur eggs, believed to have come from a Hadrosaur, specifically a Hypacrosaurus were found at Devil's Coulee site...

 features a Hadrosaur (duck-billed dinosaur) nest and embryo, ancient fossils, dinosaur models, located in the Village of Warner

Warner, Alberta

Warner is a village in southern Alberta, Canada. It is located in County of Warner, approximately 65 km south of the city of Lethbridge. Warner is a farming community. Warner is situated at the intersection of Highway 4 and Highway 36, about 38 km north of the Montana border and...

.

Waterton Lakes National Park
Waterton Lakes National Park

Waterton Lakes National Park

Waterton Lakes National Park is a national park located in the southwest corner of Alberta, Canada, and borders Glacier National Park in Montana, USA. Waterton was Canada's fourth national park, formed in 1895 and named after Waterton Lake, in turn after the Victorian naturalist and conservationist...

 is a national park located in the extreme southwest corner of Alberta, Canada, 40 km west of Cardston, and borders Glacier National Park

Glacier National Park (Canada)

Glacier National Park is one of seven national parks in British Columbia, and is part of a system of 43 parks and park reserves across Canada. It protects a portion of the Columbia Mountains. It also contains the Rogers Pass National Historic Site, designated for its importance in the construction...

 in Montana, USA. Waterton Lake

Waterton Lake

Waterton Lake is a mountain lake in southern Alberta, Canada and northern Montana, USA. The lake is composed of two bodies of water, connected by a shallow channel known locally as the Bosphorus. The two parts are referred to as Lower Wateron Lake, and Upper Waterton Lake, the latter of which is...

s was Canada's fourth national park formed in 1895. The Rocky Mountains

Rocky Mountains

The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...

 rise suddenly out of the rolling prairies in the park. Amid the peaks are the three Waterton Lakes, carved out of the rock by ancient glacier

Glacier

A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...

s.

Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park
Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park

Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park

Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park is located about 100 kilometres southeast of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada or 44 kilometres east of the community of Milk River, and straddles the Milk River itself. It is one of the largest areas of protected prairie in the Alberta park system, and serves as both a...

, 125 km east of Cardston, is one of the largest areas of protected prairie in the Alberta park system, and serves as both a nature preserve and protection for the largest concentration of rock art

Rock art

Rock art is a term used in archaeology for any human-made markings made on natural stone. They can be divided into:*Petroglyphs - carvings into stone surfaces*Pictographs - rock and cave paintings...

, created by Plains People. There are over 50 rock art sites, with thousands of figures, as well as numerous archeological sites.

Education

Stirling has one school that covers Kindergarten

Kindergarten

A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...

 through grade 12 in the Westwind School Division

Westwind School Division No. 74

Westwind School Division No. 74 is a public school board serving the counties of Warner and Cardston.-Schools:Cardston* Cardston Elementary School * Cardston Jr. High School * Cardston High School Glenwood* Glenwood School...

. Enrollment for Stirling School

Stirling School

Stirling School, is a public school that covers kindergarten through high school located in Stirling, Alberta, Canada in the Westwind School Division No. 74.- History :- Athletics :...

 was 322 in 2006.

Stirling School is home to a few athletic teams, from volleyball

Volleyball

Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...

 to badminton

Badminton

Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...

, even golf

Golf

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

.

Sports

The high school girls basketball team, the Lakettes, won the 1A girls basketball provincial championships in 1997–1999. They placed in three other provincial championships between 1996 and 2006, and won or placed second for 6 straight years between 1996–2003.

The high school boys basketball team, the Lakers, won the 1A boys basketball provincial championships in 2001, 2003, 2006, 2007 and 2008. They placed second in three other provincial championships between 1996 and 2006, and have played in 6 of the last 10 championships.

In 2006 the final game was a decisive 98-68 victory over the third-ranked Youngstown Falcons. Besides the provincial title, the Stirling Lakers recorded a season of 30 wins, 9 losses, and 3 other tournament champion titles, including the 1A South Zone Title, the Picture Butte Sugar King Invitational, and the Mccoy Invitational.

The Stirling Lakers followed up their 2006 season with another provincial title in 2007. The Lakers were victorious in the championship game over their rivals from Foremost. On their way to provincials, the Lakers were also crowned South Zone champions.

In 2008 Stirling hosted provincials and ended up winning their third provincial title in a row.

Media

Stirling has many different types of news papers such as Westwind Weekly, Lethbridge Herald, and Prairie Post. At one time, Stirling had a newspaper of its own called the Stirling Star. In the 1980s Stirling also hosted the cast of a film called "Pure Escape" starring James Garner

James Garner

James Garner is an American film and television actor, one of the first Hollywood actors to excel in both media. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades...

.

Newspapers

• Lethbridge Herald
  Lethbridge Herald
  Lethbridge Herald is the leading paper in the Lethbridge, Alberta area, with an average weekday circulation of 18,185 in the six-month period ending March 31, 2007. This local paper has been serving southern Alberta since 1905....
  
  
• Prairie Post, a newspaper focused on Alberta and the southwest region of Saskatchewan
  Saskatchewan
  Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
  
  .
• Stirling Star was Stirling's newspaper printed in New Stirling
  Maybutt, Alberta
  Maybutt also known as “New Stirling” or "New Town" is a former locality in Warner County, Alberta, Canada. The unincorporated community is situated 1 km north of the old town of Stirling just off the CANAMEX Corridor between Lethbridge and the United States-Canada border...
  
   until the late 1930s.
• Westwind Weekly, a weekly newspaper featuring news from Stirling and surrounding communities.

Movies

• Pure Escape, movie shot throughout southern Alberta and Stirling in the 1980s.
• The Calgary Stampede, movie filmed in 1925, starring Hoot Gibson
  Hoot Gibson
  Hoot Gibson was an American rodeo champion and a pioneer cowboy film actor, director and producer.-Early life and career:...
  
  . Gibson drove a team of palomino horses in a chuckwagon race filmed at the Calgary Stampede. The palomino horses were from the Bascom Ranch of Stirling.
• RV
  RV (film)
  RV is a 2006 comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, written by Geoff Rodkey, and starring Robin Williams, Joanna "JoJo" Levesque, Cheryl Hines, Josh Hutcherson, Jeff Daniels, Kristin Chenoweth and Will Arnett. It was released on April 28, 2006 in North America...
  
  , movie filmed in the Vancouver
  Vancouver
  Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
  
   area and southern Alberta including the Stirling area, May–December 2005, staring Robin Williams
  Robin Williams
  Robin McLaurin Williams is an American actor and comedian. Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy, and later stand-up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance...
  
  , Cheryl Hines
  Cheryl Hines
  Cheryl Ruth Hines is an American actress and director, known for her role as Larry David's wife Cheryl on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm. She currently appears on the ABC sitcom Suburgatory...
  
  , Joanna Levesque, Josh Hutcherson
  Josh Hutcherson
  Joshua Ryan "Josh" Hutcherson is an American film and television actor. He began working in the early 2000s, appearing in several minor film and television roles...
  
  , Jeff Daniels
  Jeff Daniels
  Jeffrey Warren "Jeff" Daniels is an American actor, musician and playwright. He founded a non-profit theatre company, the Purple Rose Theatre Company, in his home state of Michigan...
  
  , and Kristin Chenoweth
  Kristin Chenoweth
  Kristin Chenoweth is an American singer and actress, with credits in musical theatre, film and television. She is best known on Broadway for her performance as Sally Brown in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown , for which she won a Tony Award, and for originating the role of Glinda in the musical...
  
  .

Notable people

• Theodore Brandley, one of the first missionaries
  Missionary (LDS Church)
  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of the most active modern practitioners of missionary work, with over 52,000 full-time missionaries worldwide, as of the end of 2010...
  
   called to Canada
  Canada
  Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
  
   from his former home in Richfield, Utah
  Richfield, Utah
  Richfield is a city in and the county seat of Sevier County, Utah, in the United States, and is the largest city in southern-central Utah. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 7,551. It lies in the Mormon Corridor, just off of Interstate 70 about 40 miles east of its junction with...
  
  ; one of his missions was to help colonize Stirling.
• Earl W. Bascom
  Earl W. Bascom
  Earl W. Bascom was an American painter, printmaker, rodeo performer and sculptor, raised in Canada, who portrayed his own experiences cowboying and rodeoing across the American and Canadian West.- Childhood :...
  
  , was an American
  United States
  The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
  
   painter
  Painting
  Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
  
  , printmaker
  Printmaking
  Printmaking is the process of making artworks by printing, normally on paper. Printmaking normally covers only the process of creating prints with an element of originality, rather than just being a photographic reproduction of a painting. Except in the case of monotyping, the process is capable...
  
   and sculptor, raised in Canada
  Canada
  Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
  
  , who portrayed his own experiences cowboying and rodeoing across the American and Canadian West
  American Old West
  The American Old West, or the Wild West, comprises the history, geography, people, lore, and cultural expression of life in the Western United States, most often referring to the latter half of the 19th century, between the American Civil War and the end of the century...
  
  . He is also known as inventor of rodeo's first one-hand bareback rigging which he designed and made at Stirling in 1924. Earl owned and operated the Bascom Ranch near Stirling, where he raised Palomino
  Palomino
  Palomino is a coat color in horses, consisting of a gold coat and white mane and tail. Genetically, the palomino color is created by a single allele of a dilution gene called the cream gene working on a "red" base coat...
  
   horses some of which he supplied for a movie called The Calgary Stampede in 1925, which starred Hoot Gibson.
• Reg Kesler
  Reg Kesler
  Reg Kesler began his rodeo career at the age of 14 at the Raymond Stampede, competing in the boys steer riding. At the time, it was common for cowboys to compete in many or even all the rodeo events, and Kesler was no exception as he grew into his rodeo career...
  
  , resided on a ranch near Stirling, and was put in the record books in 1948, by becoming the Canadian Champion All-Around at the Calgary Stampede
  Calgary Stampede
  The Calgary Stampede is an annual rodeo, exhibition and festival held every July in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The ten-day event, which bills itself as "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth", attracts over one million visitors per year and features one of the world's largest rodeos, a parade, midway,...
  
  . In total Kesler won a total of $1,960 along with the first trophy saddle awarded by the C.P.A.. and again winning the title two more times in 1951 and 1953.
• Glen Michelson, first native son to enter the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
  Royal Canadian Mounted Police
  The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
  
  .
• Grant L. Spackman
  Grant L. Spackman
  Grant Lawrence Spackman was in the R.C.A.F. for five years. He was an officer and made thirty-nine trips over Germany. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross, presented to him by the King of England. Grant married E. Beth Tanner and they have 8 children, 7 sons and one daughter. To date they...
  
  , member of the Royal Canadian Air Force
  Royal Canadian Air Force
  The history of the Royal Canadian Air Force begins in 1920, when the air force was created as the Canadian Air Force . In 1924 the CAF was renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force and granted royal sanction by King George V. The RCAF existed as an independent service until 1968...
  
   for 5 years and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross
  Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)
  The Distinguished Flying Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and other services, and formerly to officers of other Commonwealth countries, for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against...
  
   medal from King George VI.
• Carrie Pengilly

See also

• List of attractions and landmarks in Stirling, Alberta
• List of communities in Alberta
• List of national historic sites of Canada
• List of provincial historic sites of Alberta
• List of villages in Alberta
• Scottish place names in Canada
  Scottish place names in Canada
  This is a list of placenames in Scotland which have subsequently been applied to parts of Canada by Scottish emigrants or explorers.For Nova Scotian names in Scottish Gaelic see Canadian communities with Scottish Gaelic speakers and Scottish Gaelic placenames in CanadaNote that, unless otherwise...
  
  

External links

• Village of Stirling
• Canadian Badlands Touring Routes - Mormon Tales and Historic Rails Tour
• Stirling Sunshine Society (History Book) - Stirling, Its Story and People: 1899-1980
• Stirling's National Historic Site Designation Ceremony
• Pictures Of Stirling
• of Stirling Ab.png Flag of Stirling