Most people experience Stephen Avenue from the front. The best way to understand it is to explore what lies behind it.
They stroll past patios, heritage buildings, and storefronts without ever exploring what’s behind the iconic streetscape. They don’t notice the massive 100-by-40-foot mural hidden behind the historic Hudson Block. Painted by artist Curtis Van Charles, the artwork depicts George Stephen, the first president of the Canadian Pacific Railway, surrounded by symbols of his accomplishments.
At first glance, it looks like a tribute to an important historical figure.
Look a little deeper, and it marks one of the most important turning points in Calgary’s history.
A City Changes Direction
Before the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1883, Calgary was a small settlement clustered near Fort Calgary on the east side of the Elbow River. Everything changed when the railway chose to build its station west of the Elbow River, where the Calgary Tower stands today.
The tracks brought people, goods, and investment. Businesses followed. Streets were laid out. The centre of gravity of the young community shifted west toward the railway.
Standing beneath the mural, you’re looking at more than a piece of public art. You’re standing near the place where modern downtown Calgary began.
The Bow (2012). 236 m (774 ft)
Surrounded by sandstone walls, glass towers, and the constant movement of downtown, the mural feels almost like a marker placed at the spot where Calgary’s modern story began.
Few places in Calgary compress so much history into a single view. From here, sandstone storefronts, modern skyscrapers, and the former railway district all occupy the same skyline. The story of Calgary’s growth isn’t hidden in a museum. It’s visible from the sidewalk.
From here, walk west along Stephen Avenue and follow the story.
Calgary’s Main Street
Today, Stephen Avenue is one of Calgary’s busiest pedestrian corridors. Restaurants, shops, and office towers line the street, but its role as a gathering place stretches back more than a century.
As the railway transformed Calgary from a frontier settlement into a growing city, Stephen Avenue emerged as its main retail street. Businesses clustered near the tracks, and new arrivals found everything they needed within a few blocks.
The avenue became the heart of downtown life.
More than thirty historic buildings remain along the street today, creating one of the best collections of heritage commercial architecture in Western Canada. In 2002, Stephen Avenue was recognized as a National Historic Site, celebrating the important role retail streets like this have played in shaping urban life across the country.
Few buildings tell that story better than the Hudson’s Bay Company store.
The Bay and Calgary’s Main Street
The Hudson’s Bay Company arrived in Calgary long before department stores dominated downtown shopping districts. Its first trading post was established near Fort Calgary in 1876, serving a frontier community that looked very different from the city we know today.
When the railway arrived, the company moved west with the city. Learn more about this story in our guide: Nature and Urban Santuary | Inglewood.
The Hudson Block behind the mural became home to the Bay’s growing operations. A wood-frame structure was constructed in 1884 and replaced with the current sandstone building in 1890–91. It doubled in size in 1895 and expanded again in 1905, with a larger store built between 1911 and 1913.
The company then expanded into the massive flagship department store known as Hudson’s Bay Building No. 4.
Rising block by block between 1913 and 1957, it grew alongside the city it served. The Chicago commercial-style building with Edwardian Classical features was the first of HBC’s original six modern flagship department stores. The site initially opened on the northern half of the property along 1st Street and 7th Avenue. In 1929, the 8th Avenue facade and the colonnade were added. The location saw a third stage of expansion to the west in 1957.
The building now occupies an entire city block and remains one of Calgary’s most recognizable heritage landmarks. The cream-glazed terracotta facade and grand colonnade helped transform Stephen Avenue into Calgary’s premier shopping district. More than a department store, it became a landmark that generations of Calgarians used as a meeting place and point of reference downtown.
For much of the twentieth century, this was a destination. Families came to shop for everything from toys to blankets, school clothes to appliances for their homes. They would wander past elaborate fashion and Christmas displays or meet friends to spend the day downtown. Long before online shopping and suburban malls, a trip to The Bay was part of the rhythm of city life.
Outside the Hudson’s Bay building is also arguably Calgary’s most recognizable public art installation since 1981. Conversation by Canadian sculptor William Hodd McElcheran depicts two bronze businessmen. The artwork symbolizes the role Stephen Avenue once played as Calgary’s commercial and social heart, where business was conducted, relationships were built, and the city came together.
Today, with the Bay’s future uncertain, the building stands at another turning point in Calgary’s history. Its next chapter has yet to be written, making this an especially interesting moment to reflect on the role it has played in shaping downtown.
As you continue east along Stephen Avenue, another chapter of Calgary’s early growth comes into view.
The Sandstone City
At the corner of 1st Street and 8th Avenue stands the historic Alberta Hotel.
Built in 1888, it is one of the earliest surviving sandstone buildings in Calgary. Following a devastating fire in 1886, the city increasingly turned to locally quarried sandstone as a durable building material. The decision would define Calgary’s architectural identity for decades and earn it the nickname “The Sandstone City.” To learn more and vote for your favourite sandstone building, visit our guide: Sandstone City Legacy.
While many of Calgary’s early sandstone buildings have disappeared, the Alberta Hotel remains a reminder of the city’s rapid growth during the railway era.
Just around the corner, another piece of public art continues the story.
Emergent
Located near 9th Avenue and 1st Street S.E., Emergent reflects themes of movement, growth, and transformation.
It is a fitting place to pause and consider how profoundly the railway shaped Calgary’s development.
Within a short walk are several landmarks connected to that story, including the historic Palliser Hotel and the site of the original CPR station near today’s Calgary Tower. See our guides at: Emergent and Palliser Hotel.
The railway didn’t simply connect Calgary to the rest of Canada.
It helped create the city that surrounds you.
Next Steps – Continue Exploring
If this walk has changed the way you see downtown Calgary, continue exploring the city’s evolution. Heading north from the mural, you will find Wonderland.
From beneath the giant wire-mesh head, you’ll find one of the best places to compare Calgary’s historic streetscape with the modern skyline that grew from it. Read more in our guide: Wonderland – Tallest Buildings.
Explore the cityscape and your imagination in a Monopoly-styled, choose-your- own-adventure. Wonderland – Building a Legacy is available on the Story City App and includes more destinations like this.
Continue moving north toward the Centre Street Bridge, where views of Chinatown, the Bow River, and downtown reveal how the city expanded beyond its railway roots. More information can be found in our guide: Trans Canada Trail – RiverWalk | Centre Street Bridge.
Every building, street, and public space tells part of Calgary’s story.
This corner behind Stephen Avenue isn’t just a mural or a destination.
It’s the place where a railway helped move a town, create a main street, build a retail district, and shape the city that surrounds you today.
More than a century later, Calgary is still moving. Every step along this walk reveals part of that journey.