The “F” Troop Division of the North West Mounted Police arrived to install law and order and stop the whisky trade among First Nations, building Fort Calgary was in 1875. 

In early 1882, when the Canadian Pacific Railway announced that it would extend its main line west of Winnipeg, people were drawn to the area and real estate soared. Colonel James Walker was one of the earliest settlers, whose son Selby convinced the federal government to designate 59 acres of their land as a bird sanctuary in 1929. Colonel Walker’s brick house – Inglewood – built in 1910, became the namesake for the surrounding community.

Inglewood became a substantial and thriving residential, commercial, and industrial district, then known as East Calgary or Brewery Flats. Multi-storied brick buildings sprouted along Atlantic Avenue (now Ninth Avenue).

After serving in the Royal Navy, Richard Burton Deane, a superintendent of the North West Mounted Police took part in suppressing the Riel Rebellion in Regina in 1885 before venturing west in 1906. He served as commanding officer of E-Division, Calgary RNWMP Barracks. When Grand Trunk Pacific (GTP) Railway Company purchased the Police Reserve land where Fort Calgary stood, every structure was demolished, except the Deane House.

A.E. Cross served the North West Territory Legislature in 1898 and supported Sir Frederick Haultain in bringing provincial status to Alberta and Saskatchewan in 1905. The Calgary Brewing & Malting Company owner established the Ranchmen's Trust Company to develop hotels where he could sell his product. Cross was also a founding member of the Calgary Stampede – one of The Big Four, including Pat Burns, George Lane, and A. J. MacLean.

Provincial Architect Allan Jeffers designed Calgary's first fully automatic telephone exchange. The Inglewood Telephone Building used the thermal-bottle principle: an insulating space between the windowless outer walls and a concrete inner shell lined with terra cotta, thus allowing the interior to be environmentally controlled. However, the unique construction attracted drifters, who would remove a grille and slide between the walls to sleep. 

Inglewood experienced a revitalization during the 1980s and 1990s when several buildings were restored to historic integrity, part of a government heritage program that ultimately led to the area’s enhancement into a prime shopping district. The shadow of Calgary’s majestic downtown skyscrapers continually draws numerous builders to help make this storied community one of the city’s most desirable places to live.  NL