Paw Prints from 1913 (Calgary)

Here’s an interesting discovery preserved in concrete for all time and it’s paw prints from 1913 found on a Calgary sidewalk. The date stamp confirms it. The pooch walked over the cement soon after the pour, before it set and left their mark. The flaw was not worth repairing I guess and today a curious reminder of a time long ago. How the city…no how the world has changed since Rover’s footprints were memorialized. We could go on and on about that if allowed…

The contractor for this section was McKibben Brothers, a firm active from 1907 and into about 1914 (using old phone book and Henderson directories as a guide). It appears they poured many Calgary sidewalks of the era and you can find their stamps in most older neighbourhoods on the (then) north side of town. Some read McK Bros instead, but in the same shape and form.

We wonder if they gave much thought to the dog spoiling their handy work? Doubtful. Surely, however, they’d be amazed to know this hunk of concrete has lasted this long and we wonder how many feet have tread on it in those hundred and ten years?

We’ve casually made note of old sidewalk stamps in the city and the oldest we’ve found so far was 1908, although we heard there’s one a year older out there somewhere. Into the early 1900s, wood boardwalks or packed stone pathways were the norm and only later in that first decade did concrete take over here in Calgary.

From the same card dump…
The Wilson’s Arch Building Calgary.

Short Subjects: Reports that are short and sweet in nature. Think silly little snippets, vignettes and things of that sort. You’ll be in and out in no time.

To reach out or to say hi, go here: contact us!

Date of adventure: March, 2022.
Location: Calgary, AB.

Paw Prints from 1913.

The stamp confirms the date.