See Historical Photographs From Canada’s Stunning National Parks

3 minute read

The U.S. may be home to the oldest national park—Yellowstone became the world’s first in 1872—but Canada can lay claim to the oldest national parks system in the world.

The Dominion Forest Reserves and Parks Act received royal assent 105 years ago on May 19, 1911, marking the beginning of Canada’s new setup, while the U.S. National Parks System was only created five years later, in 1916. The act created a new Dominion Parks Branch—now known as Parks Canada—that began its operation the same year, overseeing a handful of parks with a budget of $200,000 and seven employees. As in the U.S., the first land reserved for parks had predated centralized administration. Banff National Park got its start when land was set aside in 1885, and two years later the Rocky Mountains Parks Act made it Canada’s first national park.

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Though the conservation movement was gaining ground at the time, the creation of the Dominion Parks Branch was more about what historian Claire Campbell has called a “minor bureaucratic shuffle” than about any grand goals for preserving nature. Administration of the existing parks had been transferred to the Forestry superintendent in 1908, but the number of people making use of the parks was increasing such that they needed their own governance. The new centralized management could do just that—though the act didn’t give much in the way of specific instructions. (The head of the new parks system, James B. Harkin, admitted he knew nothing of parks, and wrote to the U.S. Department of Interior for advice, as described by historian Alan MacEachern.)

In fact, political discussions of the 1911 act focused on the timber in the forest reserves more than the parks themselves. It allowed loggers and miners to continue operations within the parks, and even recreational usage—which would lure tourists and their money—was intended to be more along the lines of hunting and fishing than gazing out at the surroundings in awe. “National parks were not imagined as a way of preserving nature from people,” Campbell writes, rather “reserving nature for the people’s use.”

Nevertheless, as these photos show, there was plenty to gaze at. Since then Parks Canada has expanded significantly: it now oversees 46 national parks, plus more than 150 national historic sites.

Lake Louise, a glacial lake in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. Circa 1930.
Lake Louise, a glacial lake in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. Circa 1930.Fox Photos—Getty Images
A freight train moves through the mountains of the President Range, Yoho National Park, British Columbia, Canada, 1951.
A freight train moves through the mountains of the President Range, Yoho National Park, British Columbia, Canada, 1951. Photo taken during the National Film Board of Canada's production of 'Yoho: Wonder Valley,' a panorama of Rocky Mountain scenery, with the vacation lures of Yoho National Park displayed in ever-changing color.National Film Board of Canada/Getty Images
Canadian Pacific Railway station at Glacier, a railway whistlestop and locality near the summit of the Rogers Pass in Glacier National Park, British Columbia, Canada, 1958.
Canadian Pacific Railway station at Glacier, a railway whistlestop and locality near the summit of the Rogers Pass in Glacier National Park, British Columbia, Canada, 1958. NFB/Getty Images
A rider on horseback in Waterton Lakes National Park, British Columbia. Circa 1930.
A rider on horseback in Waterton Lakes National Park, British Columbia circa 1930.W. J. Oliver—Fox Photos/Getty Images
Thousand Islands national park bridge and area, Ontario, 1939.
Thousand Islands national park bridge and area, Ontario, 1939.Toronto Star Archives/Toronto Star—Getty Images
Maligne Lake in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada, 1902.
Maligne Lake in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada, 1902.Universal History Archive/UIG—Getty Images
Pelee Island or Point Pelee, Ontario, Canada, 1932.
Pelee Island or Point Pelee, Ontario, Canada, 1932.Toronto Star/Getty Images
Kootenay National Park, British Columbia, Canada. Circa 1920.
Kootenay National Park, British Columbia, Canada. Circa 1920. Universal History Archive/UIG—Getty Images
Georgian Bay National park 1937
Pointe au Baril in the Georgian Bay National Park, Ontario. Circa 1937.Alexandra Studios/Toronto Star—Getty Images
Highlands national park on Cape Breton Island, 1947.
Highlands national park on Cape Breton Island, 1947.Toronto Star Archives/Toronto Star—Getty Images
You can set up camp right beside the sea as this young lady does in Fundy National Park in New Bruns
A camper in Fundy National Park in New Brunswick, 1971.George Bryant/Toronto Star—Getty Images

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