The Natural History Park / Prehistoric World

Called the Natural History Park, and sometimes Prehistoric World, this dino park opened in 1937 on St. George’s island in Calgary, Alberta, and was one of very first opened in North America. Alberta was a hotbed for fossils, so this park was made to feed on that momentum and bring interest to the public.

The sculptures were made by Charles A. Beil, with John Kanerva aiding in scaling up the sculptures to life-size, and later with maintaining the statues. It appears that statues were added along its lifetime, however it seems a record of all the statues was not kept (at least, not that I can currently find.)

There was a mixture of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures such as protomammals and ice age animals. At least some statues were labelled with the genus names, or with some attribute to them. Although not entirely accurate (they were created in the 30s, to keep in mind,) the statues were quite charming and had a unique character to them.

Sadly, by the 1980s, it was proposed that the Calgary Zoo—which resided on the same island—was be expanded, which meant the end of the park. Although the Calgary Zoo now has its own dino park, Prehistoric Park, it does not have any of the same dinosaur statues from the Natural History Park. All of the statues were sadly destroyed, save for one—the giant sauropod named Dinny, who for a time was an icon of the city. Dinny still resides at the Calgary Zoo, the last remnant of the park.

I also have a whole post about this park on my personal blog here.