Prior to 1883 Gleichen had for millennia been a favourite hunting and camping site for the Blackfoot First Nations people who lived off the gigantic herds of buffalo that roamed the prairies. In 1883 the Canadian Pacific's (CPR) transcontinental railway reached Gleichen, creating yet another railway boom town. Stops, or sidings, where trains could be refueled and parked on a secondary track, were built at regular intervals and the siding that would become Gleichen was the 12th siding west of Medicine Hat., giving Gleichen its original moniker of "Twelfth Siding". To the townspeople such a name would not do, so in short order the name Gleichen was chosen, named for a 20-year-old financier of the CPR, Count Albert Edward Wilfred Gleichen. Interestingly, the original pronunciation was 'Glaikhen', with the 'kh' sounding like the 'ch' in 'loch'.
Gleichen quickly became a trading hub, first for cattle ranchers, then for farmers, growing steadily in size. After 1906 and the completion of construction of a large CPR sponsored irrigation project, Gleichen grew much faster as farmers flooded in and supplanted the ranchers. Incorporated as a village on Jan. 24, 1899 and then as a town on May 5, 1910, Gleichen's population has since shrunk from a high of over 2,000 in 1912 to just 50 in the 1960s, since rebounding to less than 350 today. Gleichen had operated as a municipality for nearly 100 years, until dissolving to hamlet status under the jurisdiction of Wheatland County on March 31, 1998.
While the CPR's irrigation project covered much of Southern Alberta, including lands surrounding Gleichen, the town itself was not benefited by it. As a result, Gleichen, not possessed of a reliable water source, was forced to build a water tower and associated water supply system to service the town, and the Siksika Nation immediately south of the town. The town's water tower still stands, though unused since 1964. Probably the only remaining shingle clad water tower in the province, it remains
the tallest and oldest water tower in Southern Alberta.
Falling into disrepair following its retirement, the water tower was restored around 2011 following receipt of initial funding of $80,000, secured through the
Alberta Historic Resource Foundation. At the time it was estimated that $700,000 would be needed to complete the project. On July 2, 2008 the water tower was entered in the National Register, declaring it a provincial landmark and historical site.
Gleichen Water Tower
Looming over the hamlet is the 150-foot-tall Gleichen Water Tower, which was constructed in 1911 by Des Moines Bridge and Iron Company of Pittsburg, Pa. The structure was built to supply Siksika Nation with water and also provide insurance against fire at the grain elevator.
The tower, which was in use until 1964, is the oldest and highest in southern Alberta. After advocacy work by the community, the tower was declared a provincial landmark and historical site in 2008.
From the Strathmore Times
GLEICHEN WATER TOWER
Description of Historic Place
The Gleichen Water Tower is an early twentieth-century structure situated on eight lots in the Town of Gleichen. The structure features a wood shingle-clad tank supported by riveted steel supports.
Heritage Value
The heritage value of the Gleichen Water Tower lies in its status as one of the few remaining examples of a municipal water tower, a once common landmark in Alberta communities.
Like many other early southern Alberta communities, Gleichen came into being as a result of the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway's (CPR's) transcontinental line through the region in the early 1880s. Situated in the midst of several major CPR irrigation projects and north of the Blackfoot reserve, the community developed into a staging point for rail travel and a service centre for both settlers and Natives. Unlike many early settlements in the area, however, Gleichen was not located near a reliable source of water, nor was it slated for inclusion in an irrigation project. When the Town of Gleichen was incorporated in 1910 with a population of over 500, one of municipal council's first initiatives was to address the urgent need for a more sophisticated water and sewer system to serve its growing citizenry. The town contracted the Des Moines Bridge and Iron Company of Pittsburgh to construct a water tower in the community. Completed in 1911, the water tower served not only the people of Gleichen, but also the inhabitants of the Blackfoot reserve to the south. The Gleichen Water Tower remained in use until the 1970s. It remains a visually striking landmark and a reminder of the once essential role water towers played in the municipal infrastructure of many Alberta communities.
Character-Defining Elements
The character-defining elements of the Gleichen Water Tower include:
- those features of the site necessary to maintain adequate water volume and pressure, including the height of the tower, the central shaft, the capacity of the tank, and the location of the tower at a relatively high elevation;
- those features of the structure required to ensure the strength and durability of an essential component of municipal infrastructure, including the riveted steel construction of the supporting tower, the tie rods and turnbuckles, and the wood shingle cladding of the tank;
- the name plate of the Des Moines Bridge and Iron Company of Pittsburgh, an indication of the role of American companies played in building some municipal water towers in Alberta.
From Historic Places Canada